CHARGE: FELONY POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE (COCAINE)

At the Law Offices of Matthew T. Marin, Esq., Inc., we are extremely pleased to report the reduction of felony drug possession charges in the Kent County Superior Court on January 30th, 2018.  Our Client had been arrested by the Rhode Island State Police for felony possession of cocaine after the vehicle he was a passenger in was stopped as it travelled through the State of Rhode Island.  While other passengers were being questioned by the State Police, our Client allegedly threw a baggie of cocaine out the window into the roadway. The Client was then arrested and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance.

Once the case proceeded to the Kent County Superior Court, we raised several legal arguments with the strongest involving the length of the detention by the State Police prior to our Client's arrest.  According to the case of Rodriguez v. United States, Police Officers conducting a routine traffic stop must conclude their stop within 8-10 minutes unless they develop additional evidence to continue a criminal investigation beyond the duration necessary for the initial justification for the stop.  In our Client's case, the stop extended well beyond the 8-10 minute timeframe outlined by the United States Supreme Court in Rodriguez.  If the case had proceeded to a suppression hearing, we believe that there was a very strong case that the drugs would have been suppressed and excluded from introduction into evidence as the product of an unlawful detention.  In the end, the Prosecution agreed to reduct the charge from felony drug possession to misdemeanor frequenting a narcotics nuisance and the case was filed for one year with our Client agreeing to stay out of trouble for one year and to complete 20 hours of non-profit community service.

RESULT: FELONY DRUG POSSESSION REDUCED TO MISDEMEANOR FREQUENTING A NARCOTICS NUISANCE resulting in one year filing with twenty hours of community service on January 30th, 2018