February 11, 2010

• Steven Topazio wrote this April 27, 2014 at 10:08 am

The defendant, who was represented by Attorney Topazio, was summonsed to court for possession with intent to distribute a class B substance, when crack cocaine was found in his motor vehicle which was being operated by a second individual who was involved in a drug sale with an undercover officer. The second individual, who was the operator of the defendant’s motor vehicle, was arrested at the scene. When an additional amount of drugs were found in the motor vehicle, the defendant was summonsed to court for the crime charged because he was the registered owner of the motor vehicle. At the defendant’s arraignment, Attorney Topazio objected to his client being arraigned alleging that there was no probable cause to charge the defendant on the facts alleged, arguing that the defendant could not be in constructive possession of the drugs found, and the court agreed and requested the District Attorney to further investigate this matter and the case was continued prior to arraignment. After several court appearances, the District Attorney, after fingerprinting the drugs found in the defendant’s motor vehicle, moved to dismiss the charge against the defendant prior to arraignment, thus preserving the defendant’s criminal record as this criminal entry would not appear on his CORI until the defendant was arraigned.