Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

Last week my ex companion suggested he wanted us to work on repairing our relationship and suggested we go out of town to get away for the weekend and wanted me to rent a car for the trip. Being that I have always done this in the past when we were together because he does not own any credit cards to reserve the rental car I would always put the car in my name and he gives me the money back in cash for reimbursement which never has been a problem. Well after I picked up the rental car I drove my car back home and he had the rental car up until it was time to leave to go out of town. On the way out of town we got stop by the police in a small town because he said my companion was going 70mph on the highway and the speed limit was 65mph. He asked my companion to step out the vehicle and questioned us separatyely on where we were going as it was around 2am. Then the officer walked backed to the passenger side where I was sitting handed me my liscense and walked to the driver side and pushed a button to open the trunk and began searching the vehicle. In the mist of him searching he found a large quanity of narcoditcs (prescription meds) that I had no clue were in the car and as he finds them my companion took off running and left me at the scene. He ended up gettign away and they took me to jail and charge me with 3 felony's of manufactoring and delivering a controlled substance saying the rental car was in my name. I had no clue the drugs was in that car, never manufactured or delievered a drug in my life. I have worked for the social service field for over ten years and have no prior criminal history. They know my ex companions name, confiscated his phone he left in the car which they showed me and stated it had drug related transactions thru txt msgs in the phone and also have all his info but they are charging me and have not issued a warrant for him in our town I am terrified of losing my job because this will be on my record and am terrified of going to prison for something I had no knowledge of. Can they convict me of this crime and send me to prison just because the rental car was in my name? I would like to add the officer never read me my rights and they also kept questioning me after I ask for a lawyer, can they do that? The arresting officer never asked either of us could he search the vehicle and i am hearing from people he was suppose to ask to search; Is this also true? So so long..


Asked on 4/24/11, 5:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cynthia Henley Cynthia Henley, Lawyer

First - HIRE AN EXPERIENCED LAWYER! You are in a tough, but not completely lost situation. They can charge you with the offense, and they have some easy evidence which supports care, custody, and control - you rented the vehicle and you were in the vehicle. That said, there is enough missing that, with a good lawyer, you might be able to get a no-bill from a grand jury, a dimissal from the prosecutor, or at least a not guilty from a jury.

To prove possession, the State must show care, custody, and / or control over the drugs. Many cases are similar to your situation - they have no direct evidence. As a result, over time, cases have come down which provide direction on what is sufficient proof. Things that are considered include whether one is the owner of the car, whether one is the driver of the car, whether one is the only person in the car, whether one had access to the trunk, whether there was an odor from the drugs, etc. As you can see, there are some factors which would support your conviction if a jury convicted you. (That the driver ran & that he had drug related texts on his phone definitely support a finding of his guilt, and your lawyer can strongly argue that they also support a finding that you were not involved.)

As far as reading your rights, the only remedy for that is if you confessed or gave incriminating statements, those statements would be subject to being suppressed upon a motion to do so. The same applies for your invocation for an attorney.

As far as a search of the vehicle, whether the officer could search depends on a number of factors. Consent to search is the easiest (and safest way to not get the search suppressed) for an officer to search. Even though you know that you didn't give permission, it is possible that the cop is going to claim that the driver did give permission. Or, he may claim that he smelled the odor of drugs. (A common claim.) Who knows until your lawyer reads the offense report what excuse he came up with for conducting a search. (You don't mention whether or not a drug dog was called but if so, this could support a search but the detention at the scene would require some evidence to be permissible.)

Hire a lawyer. Consider taking a private polygraph arranged through your lawyer to be presented to the grand jury. If the driver calls you, record him and get him to admit that you had no idea that there were drugs in the car. Don't talk about this case with your friends or others.

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Answered on 4/24/11, 6:06 pm


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