Ruben .T RIF105368, on June 23, 2004 he had a hung jury on possession for sales of methamphetamine and NOT Guilty on felon in possession of ammunitioN
This is a possession of drugs for sales and felon in possession of ammunition trial that Addison won, the client was facing 50 years to life in prison and was only convicted of simple possession of drugs
- Charges: Possession of methamphetamine for sales (Health and Safety Code § 11378), felon in possession of ammunition (Penal Code § 12316(b)(1)) and possession of drug paraphernalia (Health and Safety Code § 11364), with two strike priors (Penal Code § 667(c)&(e)(2)(A)/1170.12(c)(2)).
- Exposure: Ruben was facing fifty years to life in prison.
- Outcome: The jury found Ruben not guilty of felon in possession of ammunition and possession of drug paraphernalia; the jury hung eleven to one in favor of acquittal on the possession of methamphetamine charge. The case later settled for Ruben pleading guilty to simple possession of methamphetamine, and the district attorney dismissed one of the strikes, and Ruben was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, although it was ridiculous for him to have to go to prison, it was much better than 50 years to life.
This case was a battle from the beginning. This trial was in 2004 when because of the Three Strikes law a person could easily get a life sentence for possession of a small amount of drugs. The fight started by trying to get Ruben out from under the Three Strikes law with a Romero motion (a motion asking the judge to strike the strike priors so the defendant is not facing a life sentence) and a 17(b) motion (a motion to reduce the charges to misdemeanors so the defendant is not facing a life sentence). Unfortunately the case had been assigned to Judge Charles Morgan, easily one of the worse judges in Riverside County. A fair trial, or even basic fair treatment, was not something that was going to be had in Judge Morgan's courtroom. Both motions that would have saved Ruben from a life sentence were denied by Judge Morgan. That meant the case needed to go to trial in a courtroom where there would not be fair rulings and where defense counsel and the defendant could count on not being able to fully present a defense to the jury. Judge Morgan presided over a trial where the district attorney was prosecuting a woman for using methamphetamine while she was breastfeeding her baby. The attorney in that case said in the press that Judge Morgan was incompetent. His assessment of the judge's ability was absolutely correct.
The Sheriff's Department did a parole search of Ruben's home and found a coin purse with 16 grams of methamphetamine in it in a common area. They found two digital scales and empty Ziploc bags in a Hello Kitty box. They found $764 in Ruben's wallet; he had a fulltime job so the source of the money could be proved. They went into a bedroom and found a used methamphetamine pipe with an additional half a gram of methamphetamine. There were also four bullets in that bedroom's closet. Addison and Ruben presented evidence that Ruben had a female roommate and that it was her bedroom, not his, where the items were found. Despite the evidence that it was the roommate who had the drugs, the district attorney pressed on wanting to convict Ruben of possession for sales of methamphetamine with a theory that even if they lost that and he was only convicted of possession for personal use he would spend the rest of his life in prison. The trial was only six days, not for a lack of trying to present a full defense, but because Addison and Ruben were shut down at every step trying to present their case. However, there was something that Judge Morgan and the district attorney could not control, that was the jury. They acquitted him of possession of ammunition and possession of drug paraphernalia. They hung 11 to 1 in favor of acquittal on the possession for sales for count. It looked like Addison and Ruben were going to have to gear up to try the again. However, Ruben had already been in jail for more than a year when Addison got the case and because of Riverside County's crowded courts it had been almost two years by the time the trial ended. Ruben decided to offer the minimum sentence with only one strike prior which meant that he would "do a turnaround" at Chino State Prison, the California Department of Corrections "reception center" for Riverside County. The district attorney accepted that offer which meant that Ruben and Addison would not have to risk a life sentence in a second trial and Ruben would be home in a matter of months.
Below is one of the slides from Addison's closing argument in Ruben's trial.
Below are the NOT guilty verdict forms from Ruben's case. The NOT guilty of count two, felon in possession of ammunition saved Ruben from a twenty-five years to life in prison sentence. The other charge, possession for sales of methamphetamine, where he faced an additional twenty-five years to life in prison had a hung jury, eleven to one for NOT guilty, and was later resolved for a plea to simple possession of methamphetamine.
This is the story of Mr. 319
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