The corona virus and the associated COVID-19 has upended daily life in the St. Louis area and throughout Missouri. Finally after days of uncertainty surrounding court dockets and schedules, the Missouri Supreme Court handed down a sweeping declaration on Monday, March 16th, closing courts statewide until at least April 6th. There are few exceptions to the closures, mostly for emergency situations, and a few for confined defendants. Although confined defendants will continue to have some dockets, they will only be seen by video and will not be transported to court.

There are two main concerns with the with an open court system. The first is that the court buildings are crowded every day Monday through Friday, which creates an incredible opportunity for transmission of any virus or illness. This does not only apply to defendants and lawyers, but also to victims, jurors, witnesses, and parties in civil cases. The second major concern is if the corona virus was transmitted to an inmate. Despite best efforts, if one inmate gets sick, it is very difficult to keep any illness from spreading through the jail like wildfire. This is especially concerning with an illness as potentially dangerous as COVID-19.

Federal Courts Remain Open

Although all Missouri state and municipal courts have been closed for three weeks, the federal courthouses remain open at this time. Jury trials in the federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri in downtown St. Louis have been cancelled. Other federal criminal matters continue on in some aspects. Specific procedures for Change of Plea Hearings or Sentencing Hearings have not been conveyed, but some of those will proceed as scheduled.

Contact Korner Law With Any Questions

During these uncertain times, please follow the instructions from government agencies and the CDC concerning socializing and hygiene. If you have questions regarding court dates or court cases, please contact our office at 314-409-2659. Our office will remain open to keep our clients and others informed about their cases and the courts in general. Please stay safe and keep hope during these unprecedented times.

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Drug sniffing dogs are often used by law enforcement to try to locate drugs during traffic stops, at houses, in postal packages, among many other situations. Historically, the courts have viewed these highly trained dogs as an important factor when determining whether there was probable cause to allow law enforcement to take the next steps, often a search that would be illegal in the absence of probable cause. Two problems with these drug sniffing dogs have come to light. One, which I will write about more in depth next week, has to do with dogs who have been trained to alert the handler to the existence of drugs, including marijuana. This is a problem in eleven states plus the District of Columbia, marijuana is no longer illegal. The dogs do not have the ability to unlearn that they need to alert for marijuana, so there is a large possibility of a false positive of illegal drugs when it is only marijuana the dog smells. The second issue was recently covered in depth by the Washington Post in an investigative argument. Drug sniffing dogs were only correct about half the time when tested by an independent agency. Needless to say, half the time is not nearly good enough when talking about the kind of invasive, warrantless searches the courts allow with a positive alert from a drug sniffing.

The main reason sited for the low accuracy of the drug sniffing dogs is that despite the dogs’ intensive training they still have an overwhelming desire to please their handlers. This was shown through the independent studies. At least one study made some of the test packages look more appealing to the drug sniffing dogs, whether or not there were drugs in those packages. This made no difference in the dogs’ level of accuracy. However, when the packages were made more suspicious looking to the handler there was a marked increase in false positives on those packages. Despite the handlers’ best efforts to stay neutral, their dogs knew when the handler thought the dog should alert and the dogs happily complied to please their handlers. The most egregious and shocking aspect of the independent studies came after those studies were complete. With an obvious need for more studies and more testing to understand the shortcomings of the drug sniffing dog program, the law enforcement agencies who had participated refused to offer any further participation. Essentially, they received a bad grade on a test and instead of wanting to seek areas to improve, they just walked away from school entirely. That is unacceptable in all areas of work, but it is appalling when dealing with law enforcement and an obvious infringement on people’s civil liberties.

St. Louis Drug Lawyer Jason Korner

If you or a loved one has been arrested for a drug crime it is important for you to know your rights, and to have someone who can fight to protect those rights. St. Louis drug lawyer Jason Korner has years of experience challenging drug charges in both state and federal court. Please contact Jason Korner’s office at 314-409-2659 or click here to fill out a contact form and Mr. Korner’s office will reach out to you.

Source: The Washington Post, The Supreme Court’s ‘Alternative Facts’ About Drug-Sniffing Dogs, February 4, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/05/supreme-courts-alternative-facts-about-drug-sniffing-dogs

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Marlene Black had never smoked marijuana before her doctor in California prescribed it to her for chronic pain she experienced from several preexisting injuries. As a resident of Mendocino County, California, Ms. Black was allowed to possess and smoke marijuana with the medical marijuana card she had obtained from her doctor.

The medical marijuana card also allowed Ms. Black to grow up to twenty-five marijuana plants on her property. The problems for Ms. Black began when her son started to take some of the marijuana grown by Ms. Black and sold that marijuana to people in states where marijuana was illegal, even for medical purposes. Money orders arrived in California as proceeds for the sold marijuana. Ms. Black cashed some of those money orders for her son, and by doing so became implicated in a federal money laundering investigation.

 She Was Convicted Of Money Laundering

Ms. Black hired federal criminal defense attorney Jason Korner to represent her against the charges brought by the United States Attorney in St. Louis. As Mr. Korner investigated the allegations, it became clear there was a battle between the federal government and state’s rights in play here. Although the federal government could have brought federal drug conspiracy charges against Ms. Black for the possession and subsequent distribution of marijuana, those charges would have infringed on the California state that legalized medical marijuana.

Although the federal authorities could have brought the drug case, they chose to bring a money laundering case instead. So long as Ms. Black knew the proceeds of the money orders she cashed were from illegal proceeds, and she also knew the transaction was structured in a way to avoid reporting purposes for taxes, then she would be guilty of money laundering.

The government was able to produce sufficient evidence to show Ms. Black knew the proceeds came from the sale of marijuana by her son, and further that the money orders were structured in small amounts for the purpose of avoiding mandatory reporting by the banks when the money orders were cashed or deposited.

Due to this evidence, Ms. Black entered a plea of guilty to the charge against her and proceeded to sentencing. The recommended sentence for Ms. Black under the federal sentencing guidelines was 12-18 months of imprisonment in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Fortunately, Mr. Korner was able to present mitigating facts about Ms. Black’s life and her minor role in this offense. These mitigating facts lead to Federal Judge Carol E. Jackson imposing a sentence of three years of probation for Ms. Black.

Jason Korner is a criminal defense lawyer in the St. Louis, Missouri area who represents clients against charges in federal court. Mr. Korner’s extensive experience with the federal criminal justice system allowed him to help Ms. Black get probation in this case, and has allowed him to achieve similar good results for many other federal clients facing a variety of charges. Mr. Korner’s office is located in Clayton, Missouri, but he travels regionally to represent clients charged with crimes by the federal government. Mr. Korner is a recipient of the prestigious National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40. Mr. Korner can be reached at 314.409.2659 or by clicking here and filling out the contact information box.

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