Commonwealth of PA v. D.T.

D.T. was arrested for possession with intent to deliver narcotics after police allege they observed him selling heroin to two individuals. Police claim they saw D.T. remove items from a Newport box that was hidden in a park fence and exchange those items for money with the two males. Police testified that they arrested D.T. immediately after the sales, and then arrested the two “buyers” and found packets of heroin from them that matched heroin recovered from the Newport box.

However, at trial the defense showed that the police arrested the “buyers” first, which occurred several blocks away, and then returned to the area and arrested D.T. By this time, the true dealer had left the area in this Philadelphia drug offense charge. Due to the poor lighting conditions, minimal opportunity for the police to make accurate observations, and false testimony from police regarding material facts D.T. was found not guilty of all charges.