Possession charge added hours after Personal Inventory signed

[timmers011]

Jurisdiction

Washington

I was arrested on severaly hyped up accusations from my ex several months ago. After being handcuffed I demanded to return to my apartment for my wallet and phone, which I did against the officer's desires. At the jail, I was processed, and given a personal inventory of everything in my possession. My wallet listed 1 drivers license, 2 credit cards, $336 in cash (not 100s), several business cards. I should mention that my wallet is small. It does not fold.

Over an hour after I was given the inventory sheet and taken to be booked, rather than booking me they said an additional charge was being added and I would be taken into custody for several days. Eventually I learn that my wallet was searched again and now they found a gram of meth. I have several questions....first of all, isn't the inventory supposed to protect the arrestee by acknowledging what the cops discovered in their possession? Can the charge be challenged and thrown out because the inventory done in front of me did not include the drugs? I am not saying the cops are trying to frame me, but I certainly did not put a gram of meth in my wallet and then break away from the cops to collect it from my home when I was arrested. Rather than fight out who's it was or where it came from, the mere fact that it showed up after the wallet was out of my possession is that enough of a defense to get the charge dismissed? (the rest of the story is really awful involving an ex putting cameras in my house and tracking me by GPS for months before finally filing charges against me to be arrested....and now I can't get the cops to do anything about his stalking of me)

 

[zddoodah]

You're certainly free to raise that issue in attempting to negotiate a plea bargain or when the case goes to trial. Discuss this with your defense attorney and no one else.

 

[mightymoose]

The meth did not have to be discovered in your presence. What matters is that it was discovered and that an officer will testify under oath about where and how it was discovered.
You might, maaaaybe, possibly have an angle arguing that a second search after the initial inventory was unreasonable t or should have been supported by a warrant.
I have had to write warrants to search inmate property before. Once it left the control of the arresting officer and went into storage it was no longer subject to search incident to the arrest.
It may be that the officer found the meth while still having control and justification to search it... You will have to find out and see if there is an angle to work. Your attorney can advise you.