December 12, 2013

• Steven Topazio wrote this May 5, 2014 at 4:29 am

The client, a 25-year old unemployed laborer, was arrested by Malden Police when he walked into a home during the execution of a search warrant. The client was charged with knowingly being present where heroin is kept after the Malden Police found several bags of heroin in the home they were searching. The client hired Boston Criminal Attorney Steven J. Topazio to represent him after his initial attorney was unable to resolve the case. Attorney Topazio realized that the client was not the original target of the police investigation. Malden Police had focused their investigation on another individual allegedly dealing drugs out of a home in Everett, Massachusetts, where a lot of complaints from neighbors about drug use were made and a lot of foot traffic was occurring. The Malden Police utilized a confidential informant to obtain information about the distribution of illegal narcotics for the home. The confidential informant made a controlled buy of heroin for police, and obtained a search warrant. Thirty minutes before police executed the search warrant, the client was observed entering the premises. When Malden police entered the Everett home on the authority of the search warrant, they seized several items, including plastic bags containing heroin in the room the client was found in. Attorney Topazio argued that there was insufficient evidence to establish that his client knew that he was in the presence of heroin so he pushed the case to trial. On the day of the trial, Attorney Topazio was successful in persuading the Judge to place his client on a period of pre-trial probation for six months, despite his client’s extensive criminal record.