Drug Crimes, Substance Abuse In search of some guidence and opinions

[Brett77433]

My brother was pulled over 4 month ago for supposebly swerving and when the cops asked him he had been drink he said no. Cop said your eyes look dialated and my brother responded because he is on prescribed medication for HIV. Cop made him do field sobriety test which my brother says he passed that but my brother wanted to do urine test instead of breath. They took him down to police station and he did it and my mom came and picked him up. He called the DMV the next business day to schedule a hearing because he wanted to fight it. The hearing was made, then postponed because they never recieved paperwork, then postponed again for not having paperwork, then finally he recieved a call from the DMV saying the charge is dismissed because he had no alcohol content in him. Meanwhile he shows up for court to enter a plea and he wasnt even on the docate. He went and talk to the D.A. and they said they have up to a year to charge him. Week later he recieved a summons to appear today.
The judge asked him how does he plea and he says not guilty and the judge says I am ordering you to drug rehab for this offense. Keep in mind, he just pleaded NOT guilty and judge is trying to order him to rehab. My brother stated, I don't even know what I am being charged with. The only drugs in my system is prescribed from my doctor for my HIV. The D.A. agreed and judge dismissed going to rehab. Now he has a date for July 8th. I ask him to tell the D.A. you want the recovery. Police statement, field sobrity and actually what you are being charged with. The D.A. said you would have to sign a bunch of paperwork for that information. Maybe I might be niave but if someone is charging me with a crime, I have the right to their information even if I don't have an attorney. My impression of this is, this is too fishy for me. He has prescribed medication for his HIV and one of the side affects is dialation of the eyes, he passed sobriety test, he has a note from his doctor, they won't give information and he is guilty before innocent by trying to order him into rehab where he clearly doesn't do drug. I am open to hear any suggestions or opinions on what I can do to help my brother out or your outlook on this case.
Thank you so much

 

[army judge]

Your brother needs to hire a lawyer or ask the court to appoint one for him.

There is treachery afoot.




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[Brett77433]

The problem with that is he wants the information now and with public defender he will get the info when he arrives in court. This case makes absolute no sense too me. I never in my life have a judge order a guy that pleaded not guilty to rehad.

 

[army judge]

The problem with that is he wants the information now and with public defender he will get the info when he arrives in court. This case makes absolute no sense too me. I never in my life have a judge order a guy that pleaded not guilty to rehad.

A public defender will give him discovery as soon as he/she gets it.

If he did nothing wrong, why does he care what they say anyway?

That's like asking Satan to tell you the truth.

He needs a lawyer.

He needs his lawyer.

Once you get in the system, you also have to be patient.

This isn't going away tomorrow.

It takes time.

When they gotcha, you gotta play by their rules.

They are trying to CYA.

Get him a lawyer, a slot machine might wanna "jackpot"!!!



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[mightymoose]

It sounds as if they dropped the charge over alcohol, however they see positive results for other substances in his system from the urine sample.
He may have plead not guilty, but if the judge is holding a toxicology report showing otherwise, then the judge is acting on the evidence.
Has your brother produced valid prescriptions for the drugs that were in his system? Will a doctor provide a letter indicating that your brother was under his care at the time of the incident and that the substances in the toxicology report are caused by the prescribed medications?
Simply saying that you are prescribed may be insufficient... prove it.

 

[CdwJava]

Note that one can be impaired even on prescription medication. So, if he was taking medication, and the state can show that he was too impaired to operate a motor vehicle as a result, then it really will not matter that he has a valid prescription.

An attorney will be able to evaluate the strengths of the state's case and the chemical test results to see what kind of a case they might have and what the best options might be.

 

[Brett77433]

Yes, he has proof of all the prescription of drugs he took and also has a letter from his doctor stating all the drugs he is on. For the gentleman saying go with public defender and he will have the results when goes to court. Thats great but doesnt help the stress level he is in by this by waiting. If you never been around someone with HIV stress can lead them to get sick, very sick. He knows he didnt do anything wrong but when your in trouble for the first time you still worry. I understand it can to impair his driving ability but if the field sobriety test comes back like my brother says it will, it will prove there was no impairment. The officer even apologize to him but because his eyes were dialated he had no choice. He didnt bring the letter with him today because it was an arraignment and keep in mind he has never gone through this before so he is niave about the justice system. Can he go to courst and ask for the discovery himself and if so could he get it right there and then. Thanks

 

[army judge]

He needs a lawyer.
I'm sorry he's not well, but they have a protocol.
He needs to focus on his illness.

He should work with his physician, as he no doubt has been doing, to get better (or at least maintain a certain level of wellness).

He doesn't try to treat his illness.
He uses a competent, trusted physician.

He should seek the services of an attorney to attend to his legal needs.

Medicine has it's protocols, and so does criminal law and the courts.

Get a lawyer or a public defender and all will be revealed.

If he starts fiddling and fussing with this, it'll only get worse.

He's smart enough to seek medical advice, attention, and treatment.

His disease is a very difficult and dangerous one.

So is his present legal position.

This is not a DIY project.

Encourage him to seek and use the service of an attorney.

A public defender is just another name for a criminal defense attorney.

I wish him and you all the best.

I pray that God will send a couple of miracles your way.


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[CdwJava]

I understand it can to impair his driving ability but if the field sobriety test comes back like my brother says it will, it will prove there was no impairment.

If there existed no evidence of impairment, then the arrest lacked probable cause and the officer can be charged with criminal and civil violations. I strongly suspect that the officer will articulate probable cause to believe the driver was impaired.

The officer even apologize to him but because his eyes were dialated he had no choice.

That's hogwash. Either the officer was a moron, or the officer oversimplified the situation, or the officer never said anything like that.

Dilated pupils CAN be an indication of being under the influence of a controlled substance (prescription meds being among them) but, by itself, dilated pupils are NOT proof of impairment and as such can NOT act as probable cause to support an arrest ... by itself.

If the officer does cite the pupils as being a key element int he decision process, it will likely be in conjunction with some other observations that gave the officer articulated probable cause to believe the driver was impaired under the influence of a controlled substance.

Can he go to courst and ask for the discovery himself and if so could he get it right there and then. Thanks

Discovery is generally provided only to legal counsel. The DA might decide to provide it to him at arraignment, but that is the exception and not the rule.

 

[mightymoose]

I understand it can to impair his driving ability but if the field sobriety test comes back like my brother says it will, it will prove there was no impairment.

The field sobriety test is what was actually done in the field. That was when the officer conducted a few simple tests and made the initial observations that led him to believe your brother was impaired.
The test results will not prove whether your brother was impaired or not. The test results will simply show the levels of the various drugs in his system. Those results, coupled with the officer's observations will be the evidence used to determine if he was impaired. As said above, even if he is taking his meds exactly as instructed by the doctor, he might be impairing his driving ability and open himself up to an arrest.
Simply having prescriptions for the drugs doesn't make it ok... that only proves you are allowed to have them. The warnings on the meds likely include a warning about operating vehicles.

There may not be anything to "discover" yet. Depending on how the agency operates it could be 3-4 weeks before they get lab results back.

 

[Brett77433]

He was texting while driving which ended up getting him pulled over. I would like to think I am confident in our judicial system but I am not. The people with alot of money walk away ( OJ ). I appreciate all the wisdom that is coming in, i really do. I will have a copy of everything monday and will post it and take all your advice and wisdom and opinions too heart. I really appreciate all the guidence you all provided.