Randall L Vonderheide PC - Logo

Attorney at Law

Phone: (765) 423-2557

Fax: (765) 423-4544

300 Main Street, Suite #500
Lafayette, IN 47901

Controlled Buy Drug Dealing Convictions


Most drug dealing charges result from a controlled buy. Police officers frequently send in confidential informants to purchase small amount of drugs for a $100 or less from addicts and subsequently charge the addicts as dealers.

A drug dealing charge based on a controlled buy where not all of the controls are in place can be successfully challenged.

In the case of Watson v. State, the Court Appeals held that because the CI was not searched prior to the buy and the CI did not testify at trial about receiving the cocaine from Watson, we must agree with Watson that no reasonable fact-finder, based on this evidence alone, could have found beyond a reasonable doubt he originally possessed the cocaine found on the CI after the buy.

In the case of Bowman v. State, the Court of Appeals found the evidence insufficient to prove the product of the controlled buy was heroin because the detective failed to field test the substance purchased from Bowman that looked like heroin and it was not tested by a crime laboratory.

If you find yourself having been arrested dealing marijuana or another controlled substance, you should immediately hire experienced criminal defense lawyers such as Vonderheide & Knecht to help you fight the State.

Filed to Ask a Lawyer, Marijuana & Other Drugs

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