Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Is this legal?

While passing through airport security on 1/6/04, a screener pulled a bottle of white powder from my toiletries kit. I was then questioned by local law enforcement, where I explained that it was BC headache powder. The officers then tested the substance with narcotics field testing kits - twice, in fact -- and twice got negative results. I was free to go, but they kept the aspirin bottle and its contents.

I caught my flight and returned home to Florida on 1/23.

Then on the evening of 1/26, sherriff's deputies showed up at my front door with an arrest warrant -- saying they had sent the powder to a lab and it had tested positive for narcotics. I was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance (0.2 grams of methamphetamine per arrest affidavit) and misdemeanor possession of paraphenalia.

This seems highly illegal to me, especially with regards to a chain of custody for said evidence.

Any insight--name removed--be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


Asked on 1/30/04, 4:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Dan Akes C. Daniel Akes, Attorney at Law

Re: Is this legal?

It's hard to say for sure whether this is legal without knowing the cops' justification for the charges. It's easy to say for sure that you need a good criminal lawyer. The only way I can imagine a charge of .2g of meth in an asprin bottle filled with BC Powder, would be if they dumped it out and found a chunck or seperately packaged bag of meth. The question of whether they had a right to retain the bottle without probable cause at airport security is not one I can answer off the top of my head. It does not appear to me that they had probable cause, but again, I don't know what justification they are alleging. Again, no matter what, you need a good lawyer.

Dan

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Answered on 1/30/04, 9:48 am


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