Felony Drug Charges Dropped to Misdemeanor

I just concluded representation of a client who was charged with possessing heroin in a quantity indicating an intent to distribute the drug, a felony, which carries up to 20 years imprisonment.  There was some question as to the legality of the detention of my client by the police, which resulted in the seizure of drugs from my client's car.  Basically, the police received a tip, which might have been from an anonymous source, rather than a known informant, that my client would be at a certain location with drugs.  Based on nothing more than this tip, the police went to this location, located my client, detained him, brought a drug-sniffing dog to the scene, and searched the car, after the dog alerted to the presence of drugs inside the vehicle. 

After speaking with the state's attorney, I was able to convince the state to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, simple possession, after which the client entered a guilty plea, and the court imposed a sentence of probation, rather than imprisonment.

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