November 06, 2009

• Steven Topazio wrote this April 27, 2014 at 9:58 am

The defendant, a professional person and recovering addict, was accused of presenting a forged prescription for the prescription medication Dilaudid which was in the name of a third party, who had been waiting outside the pharmacy. Dilaudid is an analgesic narcotic with an addiction liability similar to that of morphine. Dilaudid is approximately 8 times more potent on a milligram basis than morphine and is often called “drug store heroin” on the streets. After noticing the drug’s name on the prescription was spelled wrong, the pharmacist called the doctor and confirmed the prescription was bad, who thereafter called the police. When questioned by police, the defendant gave inconsistent statements and acknowledged that he was on the verge of a relapse to explain his actions, hired Attorney Topazio to defend him. Attorney Topazio’s primary concern was to avoid a conviction, (which would protect his client’s record) and at the same time insuring that his client did not lose his job due to a felony conviction. Attorney Topazio obtained his client’s medical records to substantiate his client’s course of treatment and prescription medications for court and in the process learned that his client became addicted to prescription medications following a medical procedure several years ago. Attorney Topazio recreated a chronology for the court including the factors which caused his client to lose tract of his own recovery, and presented same to the District Attorney in an attempt to resolve the matter. Today, Attorney Topazio convinced the court, over the District Attorney’s objection, to give his client an administrative CWOF (continuance without a finding) for six months and thus avoided trial and consequences of a possible conviction. Administrative probation relieves the probationer of the reporting obligations associated with supervised probation.