Know Thy Case

I had a good trial result this last week. My client was charged with Category B drug possession, which requires 42-100 grams of illegal narcotics. I had a variety of defenses planned, from arguing that my client never possessed the drugs to Fourth Amendment violations by law enforcement, but the main issue was that the State only had evidence of 37 grams.

I noticed this fact early in the case, but the State seemed to have missed it until late in the process. After the State closed its case, I asked the judge to advise the jury to acquit my client because the evidence of the weight didn’t support the charge. The judge decided he was going to give that instruction.

For the first time, the State asked to include a "lesser included" charge in the jury instructions (28-42 grams instead of 42-100 grams). Had they done this earlier in the process, the request would have definitely been granted.

But, they waited until the close of their case. So I opposed their “less included” charge, arguing it was prejudicial to my client to have to defend this charge after the state had already closed their case. The judge agreed, saying the State had not provided sufficient notice of its intent to pursue a lesser charge.

And with that, the State dismissed its felony charge against my client.

I didn’t really work any magic here, but I knew what the evidence was from an early stage of the case, and I noticed that the State had seemed to miss an important issue. I planned around this, and I had multiple routes to victory. My client now is completely free of a serious felony charge.

It's basic: but you have to know the evidence in your case.