This Felony Meth Case resulted from my client traveling at a high rate of speed through a residential zone in Pearland, Brazoria County, TX.
He was pulled over for speeding by local law enforcement. When the police officer approached my client’s vehicle he noticed a firearm in plain view on the floorboard of the Cadillac SUV.
For officer safety, my client & his passenger were put in the back seat of the officer’s patrol car.
While writing the citation, the police officer ran my client’s driver’s license & found he had multiple warrants for traffic tickets out of Houston, along with his passenger, who also had multiple warrants in Houston & Harris County. Both were now officially detained & in police custody.
While the officer was taking an inventory of contents of the SUV, my client & his passenger carried on a conversation.
The topic of this discussion;
How to Beat a Major Meth Case.
Their conversation was being recording by audio devices embedded within the police cruiser. Their entire discussion was recorded.
Always remember, anyone sitting in the back of a patrol car stands a good chance of being recorded.
The Police Found Meth
During the inventory of the Cadillac, the police officer found several weapons, crack pipes, & 19 grams of methamphetamine.
My client & his passenger were charged with the felony offense of manufacture & intent to deliver methamphetamine.
STATES OFFER: 20 Years Texas Department of Corrections
My client, while out on bond, picked up a new manufacture-with intent deliver meth case in Houston. We were able to get him a bond on that charge as well.
Then, he was arrested for a third case of simple possession of methamphetamine north of Houston, in a county outside of Dallas.
Against my advice, his brother secured another bond for him through another lawyer in that county.
While we were waiting for his original case to go to trial, the Brazoria County District Attorney’s office found out about the other two meth cases.
Brazoria County withdrew all offers.
The only offer on the table was 20 years.
I set for the case for trial.
Texas is one of two states that will allow a criminal defendant to plead guilty at trial & have a separate jury trial for punishment.
In this case, I felt we had nothing to lose.
I took a shot & tried the case, hoping for a not guilty verdict. However, getting that kind of outcome was somewhat hopeless.
The Jury Found My Client Guilty.
During the punishment trial, I informed the jury that my client came into this trial with a handful of nothing, but tried this meth case on his lawyer’s advice – because he literally had nothing to lose.
With a 20 year offer on the table, his back was against the wall in bringing this case before the jury. The panel could very well see this move as a waste of their precious time, but going to trial was his only shot at a satisfactory outcome regarding his future. I had to make them understand that my legal maneuvers should reflect on me as the defendant’s representative so that they would harbor no irritation regarding him as he adhered to my direction.
I followed up by showing the jury the good a man he was before he first used methamphetamine – the man he was before addiction. He was the perfect poster child for a national campaign as to why no one should use methamphetamine.
The family of the defendant also stepped up & related how he had once been a good father to his three children, had owned a beautiful home, had a lovely wife & how he lost it all when he started abusing meth.
I noticed several of the jurors became teary eyed.
I figured we might have a chance.
The jury was out for a few hours & came back with 10 years’ probation for this man.
CASE RESULT: 10 Years’ Probation