People v. John Doe
Dec 04, 2018OUTCOME: Dismissal of ALL Charges
About a year ago we took on a medical marijuana case wherein our client who owned half of a building in Detroit was charged with several felonies relating to a raid of the building. Despite the fact th ... at our client only owned half of the building (in fact it was two separate addresses), the state decided to hold him liable for ALL of the marijuana and plants found in both halves of the building (i.e. at both addresses). There was no way we were going to let that stand. The state made an offer at the preliminary examination, but it wasn’t good enough. Our client didn’t want to plead to something he knew he didn’t do. Even more importantly, his fiancé lives in Canada and he knew that if he took a plea, he would never make it back to Canada to be with her. So, we pushed forward. When we informed the prosecutor that we planned on moving forward with a preliminary examination, they threatened to add more charges. Still, we pushed forward. We held the preliminary examination and developed some incredible testimony during cross-examination. The state stuck to their word and indeed charged our client with more felonies at the conclusion of the preliminary examination - including the addition of a 15 year felony. Still, we stuck to our game plan and pushed forward. Once up in the circuit court we began filing motions. We filed several extremely in-depth motions, challenging the validity of everything, from the search warrant, to the bindover, to the destruction of video evidence, to the legality of the charges due to the existence of the medical marijuana act. We hired an expert and a private investigator. We spoke to witnesses and had people execute affidavits. And ultimately we dumped a mountain of motions and briefs on the state. After several hearings, the state started dismissing charges - one by one. They had no choice. We were one step ahead of them at every turn. Today, I am welling up with happiness to report that the state dismissed the last of the charges. At the hearing this morning, the prosecutor walked over to Neil Rockind and told him that it was in the best interests of justice to simply dismiss the case entirely. After a year of fighting, our client, with tears in his eyes, got to walk out of that courtroom as he had walked in: an innocent man.
