October 28, 2013
- Steven Topazio wrote this May 5, 2014 at 4:20 am
The client, a 28 year old father of one, was on probation after pleading guilty to a drug offense and receiving a 2 year suspended sentence, when he was arrested by State Police after police smelled marijuana coming from his car. After a warrantless search, marijuana was discovered in the passengers belongings, and the client was charged with a subsequent possession with intent to distribute class D charge, hired Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Steven J. Topazio to defend him. The client received a notice of probation violation where he was facing 2 years in jail upon a probation violation. Attorney Topazio attacked the underlying case alleging that marijuana found in the client’s motor vehicle that he occupied with another individual was not sufficient to charge him with possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Attorney Topazio argued that where no facts are articulated to support probable cause to believe that a criminal amount of contraband may be found in a vehicle with his passenger, then a neutral magistrate would not issue a search warrant, and therefore a warrantless search is not justified based solely on the smell of marijuana. Today, Attorney Topazio persuaded the court to find no probation violation despite the new arrest and pending criminal charges.