Drug arrests in Texas must comport with all state and federal constitutional mandates. Whenever there is a drug arrest, criminal defense counsel must investigate the police procedures in detail to evaluate whether any violations occurred. In a recent arrest of five people in Bowie County, these principles will be important to determine whether any of the accused persons has a viable defense to the drug charges filed by the authorities.
County deputies allege that they received a tip that a suspect would be delivering methamphetamine to a certain address in Texarkana. Deputies say that they surveilled the location and saw a vehicle that fit the description given to them. They reportedly stopped the car for speeding. After making the stop, they say that they got permission to search the person’s car and person.
They did not allegedly find anything in the car but found 7.5 grams of meth in a fanny pack being worn by the car’s driver. Authorities say they then accompanied the man back to another address where they found two people with outstanding warrants and arrested them. They also found a syringe with meth on one of the person’s arrested.
The wife of one of the persons arrested returned to the premises while the police were there. They arrested her for allegedly having over 2 ounces of marijuana in her purse which she had left at the premises. Other bags of methamphetamine were allegedly later turned over by two of the female suspects who said they were carrying meth in their bras.
The foregoing series of events presents an open field of investigation for criminal defense attorneys. The initial stop of the driver for speeding seems suspicious and raises the issue whether the stop was contrived by the police, who did not have probable cause to obtain a search warrant for the described address. Numerous other issues under Texas and federal law can be raised pertaining to the foregoing events.
Source: kxxv.com, “Tip leads to 5 arrested for drug charges”, Mar. 6, 2018