Latest Drug Cases In the News

PCS - COCAINE PG 1  < 1 gm
Case No. 1280706 – Michael M.
DISMISSED  December 2, 2010
Mike and a co-defendant / passenger were sitting inside a parked car at a carwash at 9:00 near Greens Rd. and Wayforest Dr. at 9:00 p.m. when police arrived.  Allegedly they had been observed by undercover officers making a hand-to-hand transaction at a nearby gas station, driving to the carwash, and then smoking and passing the pipe.  The vehicle was searched and a dirty crack pipe was found.   The passenger tried to claim it but both were arrested.  Mike ran a successful business and was supporting his family in addition to helping care for two grandchildren after his daughter passed away.  Jail would have deprived his relatives of this financial support.  Mike was hoping for rehab or probation but we were able to do better, obtaining a Dismissal based on proving up the weight of the cocaine as less than one gram by aggregate weight including adulterants and dilutants – a trace amount and not usable -  and through character testimony.

POSSESSION OF MARIHUANA
Case No. 1684668 - Kevin H.
DISMISSED July 28, 2010
When Kevin was younger he had a serious motorcycle accident which caused him to lose his baseball scholarship to UT.  Very depressed and on pain medication, he also became addicted to marihuana.  This preacher’s son stopped attending church and started running with the wrong crowd until he was arrested for POM.  He overcame his addiction and went on to become the superintendent of a large construction company, requiring that he frequently fly out of state.  Old addictions die hard and he recently fell off the wagon and started using again after having too much to drink at a party.  Soon after, as he was walking through the metal detectors at Hobby Airport, a baggie of marihuana fell to the ground.  Afraid of a conviction and losing his hard-earned position with his company, he retained The Haggard Law Firm to help.  We advised him of what he needed to do and we on our part advocated his case to the Court and were able to obtain a Dismissal and save his job.   

PCS -  ZANAX
Case No. 674389 – Tiffany K..
DISMISSED – May 3, 2010
Tiffany had a pending POM case out of Washington Co. when stopped on a bogus traffic violation. Police searched her car and found her prescription Zanax pills inside a prescription bottle with her name on it.  Problem?  Police and prosecutors tried to make the case on non-matching dosages.  We were able to prove the prosecution did not have a leg to stand on. 

POSS W/ INTENT TO DELIVER CS  28 – 200 GRMS   DIHYDROCODEINONE
ENHANCED DUE TO TWO PRIOR PCS CONVICTIONS – [TDC]
RANGE OF PUNISHMENT 25 YRS TO LIFE
Case No. 1199040 – Lee C.
DISMISSED AT JURY TRIAL
Lee was accused of obtaining prescribed medication [Dihydrocodeinone] and attempting to resell it.  The man to whom he was allegedly attempting to resell it to was arrested and pleaded guilty.  We fought this case long and hard including a thorough preparation for trial.  After going over our defenses with a fine-toothed comb, we chose certain problematic issues with the alleged evidence and the arrest to exploit and obtained a Dismissal on the day of Trial.  As we went through the file papers in closing it out, we came across this interesting note passed between Mr. Haggard and Lee [incarcerated on a zero bond].  “Lee, the DA has offered 5 years TDC.  What do you want to do?  Reply:  I want: ________   Lee wrote   “Nothing”   on the reply line.   Nothing was exactly what he got.   Family and friends were overjoyed at not losing him for at least 25 years and all weighed in with comments:

          ” Mr. Haggard was patient and very professional.”  ~Lee C. Â
           “You did a wonderful job…he  was looking to serve 25 years to life; we are so
            grateful; may God continue to bless you”   “I first thank God, then the lawyer -           25 years to life is a long time..”  “Mr. Haggard was very thorough and patient  Â
           and pressed on until the end when he got the case dismissed.”   “Mr. Haggard
           did a wonderful job and now my husband is a free man.“   ~ Family and
           Friends of Lee

PCS WITH INTENT TO DELIVER – 300 GRAMS COCAINE AND CRACK COCAINE
Case No. 933323 - Drexel P.
JURY TRIAL VERDICT: NOT GUILTY
Our client was accused of possession of a mobile crack lab and 300 grams of cocaine and crack cocaine in the trunk of a parked car, not his, but to which he had the keys and in which were found his personal belongings – briefcase, etc. Our client had a prior drug record. After careful preparation by Mr. Haggard, he testified along with his family, witnesses, and expert witness. The police made several errors in the handling of the case, which Mr. Haggard exploited at trial. Mr. Haggard used his years of trial experience to pick a good jury for this case and proceeded to a skillful handling of the entire trial, especially his cross-examination of police and prosecution witnesses, capped by a compelling final argument.Â

“You made me a believer in your slogan ‘I’ll Fight For You’. Most attorneys tell you what they will do for you. Mr. Haggard, you showed my family & me what you could do. There’s only one true word to describe you, Mr.Haggard. That word is Awesome !!! “  ~ Drexel P.

LAIR, 01-07-00414-CR (Tex.App.– Houston [1st Dist] 7-3-08)

Possession of 200-400 grams of ecstasy.  This case was reversed for a new punishment hearing.

DRUGS:  Affirmative Links
An undercover officer was watching a strip shopping that was a “hot
spot” for criminal activity. An Asian male parked next to the officer
and got out of his car when a red Dodge pickup driven by Lair drove
up. Lair had a passenger with him. The Asian male walked over to the
pickup with a “wadded up” brown paper sack, and got inside the pickup.
He stayed about 30 seconds and returned to  the Honda, empty-handed.
Lair and his friend left the parking lot. A short time later, an
unidentified Asian male joined the first Asian male inside the car.
The officers saw them counting money and, suspecting a drug
transaction, notified a patrol unit. The pickup was stopped when it
ran a red light. Lair was asked to get out of the car and was placed
in the patrol car. Davis, the passenger, was very nervous and his
elbow hit the console, snapping it shut, when he got out of the car.
The pickup was searched and officers found a brown paper sack
described by the undercover officer with 1000 blue ecstacy pills in
three plastic sandwich bags. Lair argued the evidence was legally and
factually insufficient to support his conviction for possessing
ecstasy; that it lacked sufficient affirmative links between him and
the drugs. The CA held: (1) the evidence was sufficient  because (a)
the undercover officer saw what he thought was a hand-to-hand drug
transaction; (b) the contraband was in the center console,
conveniently accessible to Lair; (c) as the driver of the car, Lair
had the right to possess the car where the narcotics were found; (d)
the passenger’s act of closing the console as he got out, gave rise to
a reasonable inference that the brown paper bag was visible before
Lair and the passenger got out of the pickup.

2. JURY ARGUMENT: Comment on Defendant’s Failure to Testify
During final arguments at guilt innocence, the State argued: “Defense
Counsel asked how do we know, how do we know that [Lair] knew what was in that bag? I told you back in voir dire that the Defendant always,
not just in this case, always has the Fifth Amendment right not to
testify against himself. As you’ve seen in this case he’s exercised
that right. But if you think about what Defense Counsel is asking you
to do is prove how do we know, how do we know what Mr. Lair knew.
Well, I can’t pop the top on Mr. Lair’s head.”   Read more…