California Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

When dismissing the case against Broadcom’s co-founders Judge Carney cited the following passage from the ruling in Berger v. United States:

"the united states attorney is the representative, not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all, and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is in a peculiar and a very definite sense the servant of the law, the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocent suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor. Indeed, he should do so. But while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one."

This elegant passage applies to District Attorneys who represent States and local communities as well. For example the goal and ideal is to make sure that when a defendant is charged with possession of drugs for sale he actually possessed the drugs and he possessed them with the intent to sell them, as opposed to possessing for personal use. Many times individuals are arrested when they have just purchased a large quaintly of a drug, i.e cocaine, marijuana, meth, etc. and there intent is to keep the drug for personal use. However, the mere fact that the quantity may be larger than one may use in one attempt the DA’s office may charge him of her with possession with intent to sell or distribute. This to me is not right. The prosecutors should have more than a mere hunch to accuse someone of such serious crime. Our Orange County Drug Possession and Sale Attorneys make sure that the prosecutors meet their burden by showing the jury or the judge that the drugs seized could very well be for personal use and that the DA needs to show more evidence of intent to sell. For instance, if the defendant was found with few cell phones, with a pay-owe sheet showing records of sale and monies owed, a scale to measure the drugs, or if the drugs were put in different baggies, then it would be reasonable for the DA to file the case as “sale” case.

Our Los Angeles Drug Possession for Sale Attorneys were able to resolve the case of a client with a result that had even our most hard to please criminal defense client happy. The case involved the act of a good Samaritan who had agreed to bring an envelope containing some pills from overseas to give to a friend’s relatives. Unbeknownst to the client the pills inside were Xanas (Alprazolam) and Viagra. Xanax (Alprazolam) is a listed drug under California’s Health and Safety Code and its possession requires a prescription. Once one possesses such large quantities of the drug the presumption arises that he or she possesses the drug for sale. That is what happened to our good smarting client. She was charged with violating Section 11372 of the California Health and Safety Code and was offered a deal wherein she would have to plead guilty and instead of State prison she was offered 180 days at Los Angeles County Jail. To accept would also meant that she would lose her Green Card and United States’ residency, meaning she would have to leave her children. Needless to say pleading guilty to possession with intent to sell and doing jail was not an option. After months of aggressive litigation and investigation today and after reviewing our evidence, Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office agreed to offer our client a deal wherein she would plead to simple possession of Xanax without a prescription and no jail time. Our client went home happy; however, I doubt that she will ever agree to transport any items for anyone else across the U.S border.