{"id":214,"date":"2013-12-04T05:31:59","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T05:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.massachusettscriminaldefenselawyerblog.com\/2013\/12\/sjc-defends-juveniles-in-drug.html"},"modified":"2013-12-04T05:31:59","modified_gmt":"2013-12-04T05:31:59","slug":"sjc-defends-juveniles-in-drug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delsignoredefense.com\/blog\/sjc-defends-juveniles-in-drug\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Massachusetts Court decision allows criminal defense lawyers in Brockton to challenge possession with intent to distribute charges based on lack of probable cause"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has just ruled that the mere existence of marijuana stored in individual bags on a juvenile does not necessarily establish probable cause<\/a> for a possession and distribution charge. Massachusetts criminal defense attorneys<\/a> may use this case to challenge charges of possession with intent to distribute that are over charged and should be charged as mere possessory crimes. <\/p>\n

Under state case law, a court may dismiss a complaint if the allegations in the complaint do not establish the identity of the suspect and\/or do not show probable cause to charge the suspect. In other words, a complaint must demonstrate reliable information to warrant a reasonable person to believe that the defendant has committed the alleged offense. Although Massachusetts law allows school administrators to invade a student’s privacy and search his belongings without probable cause, the SJC in Commonwealth v. Humberto H. [SJC-11297 (November 26, 2013)]<\/a> required the State to establish facts in a delinquency complaint supporting probable cause on each essential element of the offense. <\/p>\n

The issue in Commonwealth v. Humberto H. was whether there was sufficient information in the complaint to establish probable cause that the juvenile possessed marijuana with the intent to distribute. Unlike mere possession of marijuana – which is only a civil infraction (if not more than an ounce) – possession with intent to distribute is a criminal offense punishable by law. In Humberto H.’s case, a school administrator and a school police officer stopped Humberto when they detected an odor of marijuana as he entered the school late one day. They then searched Humberto and found five small plastic bags of marijuana. Humberto was arrested complaint charged with possession with intent to distribute. Humberto’s attorney moved to dismiss the complaint before the arraignment so that Humberto’s record would remain clean. The trial judge dismissed the complaint, but only after the charges were recorded in the arraignment. <\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has just ruled that the mere existence of marijuana stored in individual bags on a juvenile does not necessarily establish probable cause for a possession and distribution charge. Massachusetts criminal defense attorneys may use this case to challenge charges of possession with intent to distribute that are over charged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drug-distribution-drug-trafficking"],"yoast_head":"\nRecent Massachusetts Court decision allows criminal defense lawyers in Brockton to challenge possession with intent to distribute charges based on lack of probable cause — Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog — December 4, 2013<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has just ruled that the mere existence of marijuana stored in individual bags on a juvenile does not — December 4, 2013\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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