Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Re: Criminal case ''set up'' by officer

Well, you can't prove anything to the judge. Only his lawyer can help in that way. However, the question is not whether Officer X is playing fair: it is whether the state can prove that Bob had possession of the bag. The address book and the fact that the bag was found inside the car Bob was driving are both items of circumstantial evidence that Bob had possession of the bag. However, circumstantial evidence is insufficient to convict where the evidence is consistent with a reasonable lawful hypothesis. I won an acquittal in a similar case where my client was a passenger in a vehicle, and drugs were found in a bag containing papers belonging to my client. The judge rulled that those facts were consistent with someone else in the vehicle putting the papers in the bag to throw suspicion off of himself. The fact that Bob was the driver (and the owner?) of the vehicle might be enough to change the result. Also, his fingerprints on either the bag, or worse -- the contents-- would obviously seriously hurt his case. The fact that his PD doesn't seem to be doing anything doesn't mean that he isn't doing the job, but Bob needs a lawyer who knows what he is doing, and does it. Hope this helps. Convincing a judge or jury that Bob was "set up" is difficult.

Dan

Re: Criminal case ''set up'' by officer

The reply by Dan Akes is correct. Constructive possession is a complex area of the law and a motion to suppress is a must in every constructive possession case. I won't comment further since "Bob" is currently represented.