Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

An friend was arrested by the police at an Indian Casino a few months ago. He had met up with a friend who drove them both to the casino. The friend had been drinking. Upon arrival, the police questioned the friend and then searched his car. They claimed to have found two unidentified pills on the floor of the car and arrested my friend and his drunken driver friend, charged them with transporting drugs for sale and possible some other charges to do with the pills being in the car.

They were taken to the local jail and bail was set at $20,000 for my friend. That seemed like an extremely high amount for two unidentified pills. It cost him $2,000 to get out of jail and await his court appearance.

He and his lawyer went to the court hearing. The prosecution asked for a delay. My friend's lawyer asked for the police report but was told it was not yet available. I do not know if it had been written but it was not given to him.

He and his lawyer attended the second hearing and again the prosecution asked for more time and the police report was still not available.

He and his lawyer returned for the third hearing and at this time they were told that the charges had been dropped and no police report was ever presented to them.

I think that there has to be some accountability in our legal system. It seems unconscionable that someone can be pulled off the streets (or in this case, the parking lot of an Indian casino) and put in jail with a demand for $20,000 to stay free until trial, and the police do not have the legal responsibility to produce the charges.

I would like my friend to seek legal advice about recouping his legal costs and the $2,000 he spent to pay his bail. However, I do not want him to throw good money after bad on this and would like an opinion on how strong his case is.

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