Affirmation of life is the spiritual act by which man ceases to live thoughtlessly and begins to devote himself to his life with reverence in order to give it true value. — Albert Schweitzer
12/16/2013
Drug suspects had soap, not cocaine bricks
Pair spent month in prison before lab results came back.
December 13, 2013|By Manuel Gamiz Jr., Of The Morning Call
When a state trooper pulled the couple over along Interstate 78 last month, he said he stopped them because they were going 5 miles over the speed limit and hugging the side of the lane.
The trooper said he smelled marijuana. The driver of the new Mercedes-Benz, 26-year-old Annadel Cruz, told him she had smoked the drug before she left New York City, but had not done so in the car. The trooper asked to search the car, and Cruz consented. When the trooper found two plastic-wrapped packages in the trunk of the car, Cruz told him they contained soap she had made herself. The trooper field-tested them and Cruz and her friend, 30-year-old Alexander Bernstein, spent the next month in Lehigh County Prison after being arrested on cocaine-trafficking charges. They got out this week after the Lehigh County district attorney's office dropped the charges because a state police lab tested the packages and found they contained boric acid or soap.
Attorneys for the couple are questioning the investigation, accusing the trooper of profiling the couple and botching the field test.
Cruz's attorney, Robert Goldman, said, "After this, everyone should pause about jumping to conclusions when a field test is said to be positive by law enforcement. There are people going to jail on high bail amounts based upon these field tests." Bernstein was sent to prison under $500,000 bail and Cruz under $250,000 bail by District Judge Jacob Hammond.
Field tests are used by police departments to test substances believed to be drugs at suspected crime scenes. A sample of the substance is mixed with a liquid, causing a reaction and change in color that will indicate if it is an illegal drug, Karoly said.
That substance will then be sent to the state police lab for further analysis and testing.
Karoly said he believes the field test either didn't happen, it was lied about or something is wrong with how it was done.
Bernstein's bail was posted Tuesday, a day before the district attorney's office called to let him know they were dropping charges. Cruz, a community college student, was released from prison Wednesday, Goldman said. Goldman said Cruz had no criminal record before the Nov. 13 stop in South Whitehall Township. While his client is happy to be released, Goldman said it will take time to recover from the stigma of being incarcerated as a drug offender.
The couple were charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine, possession of cocaine, conspiracy and possession of drug paraphernalia. Cruz also was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana, disregarding traffic lanes and speeding.
The district attorney's office would only confirm that the state police lab determined the substance found in the car turned out to be soap, leading to the charges being withdrawn Thursday.
Both attorneys accused state police of profiling.
Goldman said police stopped his client for barely going past the speed limit and getting close to the line, something almost every driver on the highway does at some point.
"Anybody who drives under 60 miles an hour on I-78 has the chance of getting rear-ended," Goldman said. "It was one of the worst probable causes for stopping."
Goldman said his client was taking the soap to a sister in Florida. He described Bernstein as her friend.
Karoly said this case is an example of rushing to conclusions.
No comments:
Post a Comment