Man, this is a weird one. Although I'm dangerously unaware of a lot of the facts, the jest of the case is this: A search warrant is run on the defendant's house (where she may or may not have been living since her husband died). Cops find a substance that might be methamphetamine and some vials of morphine (the vials have a doctor's name on it.) The best I can tell, the stuff was found in either a safe or a lockbox that, I think, the cops had to break into.
The case gets indicted for Possession of Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine of 4-200 grams. Here's the part I'm not sure about: I think the case was indicted and filed before the lab report came back (I think that's nuts, but I've seen it happen.) Anyway, the lab comes back negative meaning that it was not methamphetamine after all. But the morphine was in fact morphine.
So the prosecution amends the indictment to change "methamphetamine" to "morphine."
But the case really sucks. First, morphine is just a weird drug to illegally possess. In fact, this may be the first one I've ever heard of in Wise County. Secondly, the defendant's husband had multiple hospital stays where he legally received morphine injections. The nurse's notes even indicated he requested morphine at the hospital in lieu of other pain killers. So although it would be illegal for the husband to later possess the morphine without a prescription (he didn't have one -- the doctor whose name was on the vials had never heard of him), it's not exactly the crime of the century. More importantly, the fact that the husband illegally obtained the morphine doesn't mean his wife/defendant possessed the morphine.
The defendant, 51, testified yesterday that she basically moved out of the house when her husband died and she had not moved a thing. She says she had no idea there was morphine in the safe, that he ran the house, but that he was in excruciating pain over the last couple of years of his life. The place was a dump, she's dirt poor, and she is the most pathetic looking soul you've I've seen in a long time. She has no prior felony convictions.
The jury might just cut her loose.
But she is a heck of a gambler. If convicted, the range of punishment is 5 to 99 years/life in prison (more proof the War on the Drugs is stupid). The DA's office, realizing the case has a number of issues, offered her 5 years deferred adjudication probation to the lesser offense of a State Jail Felony. (That means if she successfully completed the probation, she wouldn't have a conviction. If she screwed it up, the maximum sentence would be 2 years.)
But she turned the plea bargain down!!
Developing . . .
Edit: The jury found her "not guilty"
Edit #2: I'd like to point out that the DA is of the strong opinion that I left out many relevant facts and, had I revealed those facts, it would be clear that the case was worthy of having a jury decide as opposed to dismissing it. (For instance, a small amount of methamphetamine was found next to the morphine, that a scale(s) were found in the home, and there were remnants of a possible methamphetamine manufacturing process. )
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8.12.2009
Decatur Dope Trial Update
Man, this is a weird one. Although I'm dangerously unaware of a lot of the facts, the jest of the case is this: A search warrant is run on the defendant's house (where she may or may not have been living since her husband died). Cops find a substance that might be methamphetamine and some vials of morphine (the vials have a doctor's name on it.) The best I can tell, the stuff was found in either a safe or a lockbox that, I think, the cops had to break into.
The case gets indicted for Possession of Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine of 4-200 grams. Here's the part I'm not sure about: I think the case was indicted and filed before the lab report came back (I think that's nuts, but I've seen it happen.) Anyway, the lab comes back negative meaning that it was not methamphetamine after all. But the morphine was in fact morphine.
So the prosecution amends the indictment to change "methamphetamine" to "morphine."
But the case really sucks. First, morphine is just a weird drug to illegally possess. In fact, this may be the first one I've ever heard of in Wise County. Secondly, the defendant's husband had multiple hospital stays where he legally received morphine injections. The nurse's notes even indicated he requested morphine at the hospital in lieu of other pain killers. So although it would be illegal for the husband to later possess the morphine without a prescription (he didn't have one -- the doctor whose name was on the vials had never heard of him), it's not exactly the crime of the century. More importantly, the fact that the husband illegally obtained the morphine doesn't mean his wife/defendant possessed the morphine.
The defendant, 51, testified yesterday that she basically moved out of the house when her husband died and she had not moved a thing. She says she had no idea there was morphine in the safe, that he ran the house, but that he was in excruciating pain over the last couple of years of his life. The place was a dump, she's dirt poor, and she is the most pathetic looking soul you've I've seen in a long time. She has no prior felony convictions.
The jury might just cut her loose.
But she is a heck of a gambler. If convicted, the range of punishment is 5 to 99 years/life in prison (more proof the War on the Drugs is stupid). The DA's office, realizing the case has a number of issues, offered her 5 years deferred adjudication probation to the lesser offense of a State Jail Felony. (That means if she successfully completed the probation, she wouldn't have a conviction. If she screwed it up, the maximum sentence would be 2 years.)
But she turned the plea bargain down!!
Developing . . .
Edit: The jury found her "not guilty"
Edit #2: I'd like to point out that the DA is of the strong opinion that I left out many relevant facts and, had I revealed those facts, it would be clear that the case was worthy of having a jury decide as opposed to dismissing it. (For instance, a small amount of methamphetamine was found next to the morphine, that a scale(s) were found in the home, and there were remnants of a possible methamphetamine manufacturing process. )
