State v. Miles (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-061-17, 10 pp.) (D. Garrison Hill, J.) Appealed from Lexington County Circuit Court (Thomas Russo, J.) S.C. App. Holding: As applied to this case, our drug trafficking statute’s use of “knowingly” applies to defendant’s ...

Tagged with: Drug Trafficking

U.S. v. Walker (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-118-17, 9 pp.) (Traxler, J.) No. 16-4367, May 24, 2017; USDC at Columbia, S.C. (Currie, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: The 4th Circuit affirms a 30-month sentence for a Jamaican native who pleaded guilty to ...

Tagged with: Drug Trafficking

Despite a rain-averse drug dog’s failure to detect narcotics, a divided state Supreme Court recently held, York County deputies had both reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and probable cause to conduct a warrantless vehicle search. In 2008, Sheriff’s Deputy L.T. ...

Tagged with: Drug Trafficking Probable Cause S.C. Supreme Court

U.S. v. Pineda (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-182-14, 19 pp.) (Niemeyer, J.) No. 13-4555, Oct. 29, 2014; USDC at Wilmington, N.C. (Boyle, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: The 4th Circuit upholds multiple enhancements of a sentence for a defendant convicted of selling ...

Tagged with: Drug Trafficking Firearm Possession

State v. Gracely Preventing cross-examination questioning which would have examined the extent of witness bias and witnesses’ possible motivations for testifying against the accused violates the Confrontation Clause and is not harmless error.

Tagged with: confrontation clause Criminal Drug Trafficking

State v. McEachern Defendant gave lengthy testimony concerning where all the money found in her handbag came from in order to rebut any inference that the money was connected to the drugs seized from her handbag and her vehicle. Defendant also said that none of the money was drug money. Thus, defendant opened the door to the admission of evidence that she had agreed to forfeit the money in question.

Tagged with: Conspiracy Criminal Practice Drug Trafficking Evidence

U.S. v. Martin Four defendants convicted as part of a drug-trafficking operation lose their appellate challenge to the belated forfeiture of their property under 18 U.S.C. § 983, including over $400,000 in currency from several accounts, a Mercedes automobile and several million dollars in drug proceeds, as the 4th Circuit holds the time deadline for forfeiture under Rule 32.2 is not a jurisdictional condition.

Tagged with: Criminal Practice Drug Trafficking Forfeiture

U.S. v. Simmons The en banc 4th Circuit vacates a North Carolina defendant’s federal drug trafficking sentence that was enhanced because of a prior state conviction for marijuana possession, in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision from last year that casts doubt on the practice of treating minor state crimes as serious felonies.

Tagged with: Criminal Practice Drug Trafficking Enhancement Sentencing