Our client is a manager at a local business. One night he hitched a ride home from work. The driver of the car he hitched a ride from was speeding and got pulled over in Botetourt. The officer said he could smell the odor of recently burnt marijuana and decided to search the vehicle. When the officer searched, he found a small amount of fresh marijuana in the CD holder in the sun visor on the passenger side of the vehicle. Our client was charged with marijuana possession.
Our client was on probation for a previous drug charge, and was worried about how a marijuana possession charge would affect his life. He hired the Roanoke criminal defense attorneys at Copenhaver, Ellett & Derrico to represent him.
This was a case based on the idea of constructive possession, where the prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant exercised dominion and control over the marijuana and knew the nature of the substance. In this case, the prosecution couldn’t meet the burden and the marijuana possession charge was dismissed.
Case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case.