According to a Florida man, one of the worst things anyone could go through is to sit behind bars for a crime he or she did not commit. This happened to him after he was falsely arrested for drug crimes in December and was unable to pay the bond of half-a-million dollars. He now hopes that there will be some sort of restorative justice for the emotional distress experienced by him and his loved ones, especially because he had to spend Christmas in jail.
The 28-year-old man reports that a Martin County deputy approached shortly after he parked his vehicle in a KFC parking lot on Dec. 5. During a vehicle search, the deputy came across a powdery white substance inside the door on the driver’s side. After a field test, the deputy declared the substance to be heroin.
After an arrest on possession and trafficking of heroin, the driver was locked up in the county jail, where he spent the following 41 days. During that time, further testing of the substance determined that it was nothing but laundry detergent powder and not heroin. Additional reports indicate that the deputy made 10 other false arrests, and his employment has since been terminated.
Anyone in Florida who is falsely arrested on charges of drug crimes will be wise to contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. The lawyer can scrutinize the procedures followed by law enforcement, including the probable cause for searching the vehicle. With skilled legal counsel in his or her corner, the defendant’s legal rights will be protected while the attorney works to achieve the best possible outcome.
