The very first thing a criminal defense lawyer wants to know when handling a trafficking in cocaine case are the facts.
- How did you come into contact with law enforcement?
- What agency is involved?
- Did law enforcement conduct search your property? Did they have a warrant?
- Did law enforcement conduct a wiretap?
- Is a confidential informant involved?
- Is this a buy/bust case, a controlled sale, manufacturing, delivery, or importation case?
- How much cocaine is at issue?
- How many transactions are alleged?
- Are guns involved in any capacity?
- Was anybody injured or killed?
- Were any statements or confessions given to law enforcement?
- Did law enforcement read you your rights before custodial interrogation?
- What was your role in the offense?
- Who are the other parties and what are their roles?
- Has law enforcement made contact with you?
- Have you been asked to cooperate with law enforcement?
Immediately, a criminal lawyer will begin to determine whether or not the prosecution can even establish the basic elements of the crime based on the facts alone. A criminal attorney will also begin to foresee the direction your case is likely to take.
To explain this process, we must first discuss the basic legal elements of a trafficking cocaine charge. For the prosecution to have a winning cocaine trafficking case they must have access to evidence of the following:
Element #1: Proving Defendant’s Actions
Did the defendant sell, purchase, manufacture, deliver, bring into Florida, or possess a certain substance?
Element #2: Proving the Substance was Cocaine
Was the substance that was sold, purchased, manufactured, delivered, brought into Florida, or possessed actually cocaine?
Element #3: Proving Quantity
Did the substance in question weigh 28 grams or more?
Element #4: Proving Defendant’s Knowledge
Did the defendant know that the substance in question was cocaine or a mixture containing cocaine?
or,
Did the defendant intend to sell, purchase, manufacture, deliver, or bring into Florida a controlled substance other than cocaine, that turned out to be cocaine or a mixture containing cocaine?