Galveston County Drug Defense Lawyer
Galveston Drug Defense Attorney James Sullivan Can Fight for You
Arrested for Drugs? Get the drugs tested.
Experienced criminal defense attorneys have learned from experience to not trust the alleged drug testing by police officers. Before allowing a client to plead guilty to a felony drug case, it is wise to always get a drug test by a credible lab. This is not just for the weight of the drug, but more importantly to make sure it is in fact an illegal narcotic.
A few years ago, James (Jim) Sullivan represented a young black male charged as felony habitual with possession of over 400g of cocaine. With his prior drug possession convictions, he was facing 25 years to life. The prosecutor thought he was being generous by offering 20 years on the first setting.
Sullivan’s client had gone to a dope house to buy crack. When he arrived, the dealer was on his way out and asked my client to wait on the screened-in porch where he could sit down and watch television. A few minutes later, the police stopped by purportedly because of overgrown weeds. They knocked on the screen door. He opened it. The police asked if they could look around. He said it was not his house. The police found tubes filled with water behind some junk in the corner of the porch. The accused said it looked like the tubes had been recently washed out and left there.
In the offense report, The police from HPD claimed that they came upon my client as he was “cooking” crack cocaine on the porch and that the tubes of water tested positive for cocaine. The accused was poor and his family could not afford the high bond. Sullivan planned on fighting the illegal search at trial, however–after spending almost one month in jail–the drug test results came back negative. The State dismissed the charges.
What are the chances the police would try to frame an innocent rich white male in the wealthy sections of town? If you need an experienced Texas criminal defense attorney, contact James Sullivan at (281) 546-6428.
