Possession of Cocaine Charge in Miami-Dade County Dropped Thanks To Defense Attorney

Summary:

The client was driving around with 2 of his friends in his car when he was stopped by a police officer for a traffic stop at a DUI checkpoint. Later during a search, the officer found a small plastic baggie with cocaine inside the client’s fanny pack.

Facts of the Case:

The 37-year-old client was in his car driving around Miami-Dade County with 2 of his friends, who were visiting from Chile. One of the friends in the car was drinking, and the client was driving (not drinking). The client was stopped at a roadblock, which was a DUI checkpoint with the City of Miami Beach Police Department.

The police officer made a traffic stop on the client’s car, a red Chevy Equinox. The officer observed that there were 3 occupants inside the car and also noticed that the center console of the car had 2 Corona beer bottles. Then the officer asked the client for his driver’s license, vehicle registration, and vehicle insurance.

The officer noted that while he was watching the client take out his driver’s license, which was Chilean, he saw the client’s Florida identification card. He asked the client to take out that Florida identification card and also asked him to step out of the car to make sure he could properly drive.

At that point, the officer informed the client that he was going to conduct a pat down, which is how the officer came to the small fanny pack that the client had around his waist. Then the officer told the client to put his hands on his car, took possession of the fanny pack, and conducted a search for possible weapons and/or contraband.

The officer found a small clear plastic baggie containing a white powdery substance inside, which the driver confirmed as cocaine. 

The client was then charged with one felony count for possession of cocaine.

Process and Result:

The client’s girlfriend, Rosa, had an in-person strategy session on behalf of the client with lead attorney Manny Serra-Jovenich. She explained that her boyfriend was in the process of getting political asylum and that there was no lawyer currently working on the immigration case. Something to note here is that the client could be deported for a felony conviction. She wanted to know what could potentially happen along the way, such as the fact that the worst-case scenario for the client would be 5 years in jail, which Manny didn’t believe would happen.

The client’s biggest concern was going to jail, so Manny did a great job of going over the law and explaining the whole process to the girlfriend. Manny pointed out that the officers used a legal loophole because the client was not read his Miranda rights when the officers asked him questions, and unfortunately, he told them that the cocaine was his.

Final Result:

Manny tried to figure out if the client could go into a pretrial diversion program, but instead the case no informationed. After the client came to the Rossen Law Firm, Manny helped figure everything out so that the State Attorney’s office did not go through and the case was resolved.