Controlled Substances

        In the past twenty years we have defended hundreds of federal drugs cases. In United States v Cuevas-Ramirez, we won the first acquittal in the history of the United States of an individual extradited from a foreign country on major drug charges, and the government was forced to return the defendant to Colombia as a free man.

        There are four basic types of drug cases:

        (1) possession

        (2) sale to a government agent or informant

        (3) possession with intent to distribute

        (4) importation

        With respect to simple possession, these cases sometimes involve narcotics concealed or contained in a vehicle or space not readily associated with the defendant. In such a case, the defense most frequently lack of personal knowledge of the presence of the drugs, or "mere presence" of the defendant at the location at which drugs are possessed by others. In possession cases in which there are multiple defendants or persons at the scene of the alleged crime, and there is no evidence of the defendant's own activity or involvement, the government cannot meet its burden of proof and any conviction should be avoided or overturned based on insufficiency of the evidence. A second type of drug case is the direct sale of drugs to a government informant or agent. In such cases a typical defense is entrapment, as was successfully employed in United States v Cuevas-Ramirez, discussed above. If a defendant sold to an informant who was poorly monitored, the defenses of alibi and/or mistaken identification may exist. The third type of case is possession with intent to distribute, often charged in a multi-defendant conspiracy. All of the above defenses may apply to such cases, as may a "personal use" defense. The key to defending many drug prosecutions often rests on the impeachment of a government informant or codefendant who receives a benefit in the form of a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony. Impeachment evidence is exculpatory and must be disclosed by the government if the evidence might reasonably lead or have led to a verdict of not guilty.