Legal Question in Criminal Law in North Dakota

i recently discovered that i have been charged with a class c felony in ND. i found this out while looking at court records online. the date of incident is 11/20/2010 the filing date is 12/21/2010 warrant issued 12/29/2010 and i discovered this all at once on the website on 1/3/2010. i contacted the sheriff's dept. they told me i was part of a controlled buy on 11/20 at a local bar. i am sure everyone says this but i am innocent. i have multiple witnesses who i was with from walking in until leaving an hour after arrival when we went to another bar until closing time. one thing i recall is that another bar patron attempted to purchase painkillers i had from surgery on a hernia 12 days before. he saw them when i took one with a water when i first arrived and i refused to sell any this person is someone involved in providing controlled buys for the local drug taskforce. i was recently informed this by a friend who was setup for selling marijuana to him a couple years back.

is it possible to charge someone based on the word of an informant if no physical evidence (ie. audio/video marked cash or substance) exists?

my house was raided exactly a year ago on jan 6th. the search warrant was issued based on a photograph from a CI who took a picture of a marijuana pipe. my house was turned upside down and they charged me with 2 marijuana pipes that they found. i pleaded guilty and underwent/completed treatment as required by the courts. i started school and completely turned my act around even attempting to start a business installing security cameras and point of sale systems for local businesses.

i am at a loss. i cannot afford a hired defense attorney and the public defenders are not very helpful. in fact i was found guilty on another marijuana possession case where i was stopped by city police and a passenger ran from my vehicle while the officers were talking to me in the squad car. the passenger left a backpack in my car with weed and a pipe in it. i was convicted because it was my vehicle. but whats odd is that we were both found guilty of para/possession even though the officers testified in court that the passenger smelled like weed when they caught him a few blocks after he ran and there was one pipe so there should be one owner. also the backpack had clothes in it. the passenger was and is homeless and i have lived at the same residence i do now for 9 years.

the felony case can be seen at the following website by looking up McMahon, William as last/first name search.

not too much their. i found out about the controlled buy and details after calling the sheriffs dept yesterday.

http://publicsearch.ndcourts.gov/ click on cass county(bottom right of map) and click criminal/traffic then search my name.

if it helps i live in Fargo ND 58102 county of CASS


Asked on 1/05/11, 11:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Ross Brandborg Brudvik Law Office

You have a very good lawyer, Nick Thorton. Listen to him.

Read more
Answered on 1/10/11, 12:09 pm


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