Commonwealth v. R.D.

R.D. was arrested after police claim they saw him drop a baggie containing 54 grams of crack cocaine into the open window of a car in a high crime area in Philadelphia, and he was charged with Possession With Intent to Deliver. At trial, the officers claimed that as they turned onto the block, they heard someone yell “Yo Police”, and ten seconds later, as they proceeded down the block in a marked police car, R.D. took the drugs out of his pocket and placed them into the car when they were only 5-10 feet away. The defense, Philadelphia’s drug defense lawyer, Patrick Link, presented a witness who testified that the police actually jumped out of the car and stopped a group of 4 males for no reason, and then began searching several cars that were parked nearby. The third car that was searched yielded the drugs, and since the car belonged to R.D.’s brother they charged him with the drugs. R.D.’s brother had in fact been present on the block minutes before the police arrived. A judge found that the testimony from the police was NOT CREDIBLE and declared R.D. not guilty.