Our client was convicted in the DeKalb County Superior Court of trafficking in cocaine and was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison.
On appeal, we argued that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction as there was no evidence that he actually possessed the drugs in question. This case involved what is called a “reverse sting operation” where the police pose as drug dealers and attempt to sell the drugs to others. Our argument in this case was that our client never possessed the drugs since the police never actually relinquished possession of them. In fact, the officers testified at trial that they were under strict instructions not to allow the client to take the drugs due to the extremely large quantity. Thus, the Georgia Court of Appeals concluded that since the trafficking statute requires that the person possess the drugs, our client could not be convicted. Therefore, his 25 year prison sentence was reversed and he was released. This case received statewide recognition as it was influential in prompting the police to rethink the use of these reverse sting operations in prosecuting drug offenses here in Georgia.
Categories | Appeals,