Date: 03-14-2012

Case Style: State of Oklahoma v. Manuel Luis Rodriguez

Case Number: CF-2012-6

Judge:

Court: District Court, Tulsa County, Oklahoma

Plaintiff's Attorney: Tulsa District Attorney's Office

Defendant's Attorney: James L. Cosby

Description: The State of Oklahoma charged Manuel Luis Rodriguez with possession of a controlled dangerous substance in violation of 63 O.S. 2-401 an 63 O.S. 2-420.

Title 63 O.S. 2-410 provides:


A. Except as authorized by the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, it shall be unlawful for any person:

1. To distribute, dispense, transport with intent to distribute or dispense, possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, a controlled dangerous substance or to solicit the use of or use the services of a person less than eighteen (18) years of age to cultivate, distribute or dispense a controlled dangerous substance;

2. To create, distribute, transport with intent to distribute or dispense, or possess with intent to distribute, a counterfeit controlled dangerous substance; or

3. To distribute any imitation controlled substance as defined by Section 2-101 of this title, except when authorized by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

B. Any person who violates the provisions of this section with respect to:

1. A substance classified in Schedule I or II which is a narcotic drug, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), gamma butyrolactone, gamma hydroxyvalerate, gamma valerolactone, 1,4 butanediol, or gamma-hydroxybutyric acid as defined in Sections 2-204 and 2-208 of this title, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not less than five (5) years nor more than life and a fine of not more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment. Any sentence to the custody of the Department of Corrections shall not be subject to statutory provisions for suspended sentences, deferred sentences, or probation except when the conviction is for a first offense;

2. Any other controlled dangerous substance classified in Schedule I, II, III, or IV, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not less than two (2) years nor more than life and a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00), which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment. Any sentence to the custody of the Department of Corrections shall not be subject to statutory provisions for suspended sentences, deferred sentences, or probation except when the conviction is for a first offense;

3. A substance classified in Schedule V, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not more than five (5) years and a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment; or

4. An imitation controlled substance as defined by Section 2-101 of this title, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than one (1) year and a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). A person convicted of a second violation of the provisions of this paragraph shall be guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not more than five (5) years and a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment.

C. 1. Except when authorized by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, it shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, cultivate, distribute, or possess with intent to distribute a synthetic controlled substance.

2. Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this paragraph is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not to exceed life and a fine of not more than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment.

3. A second or subsequent conviction for the violation of the provisions of this paragraph is a felony punishable as a habitual offender pursuant to Section 51.1 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

4. In addition, the violator shall be fined an amount not more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment.

D. 1. Any person convicted of a second or subsequent felony violation of the provisions of this section, except for paragraph 4 of subsection B of this section, shall be punished as a habitual offender pursuant to Section 51.1 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

2. In addition, the violator shall be fined twice the fine otherwise authorized, which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment.

3. Convictions for second or subsequent violations of the provisions of this section shall not be subject to statutory provisions for suspended sentences, deferred sentences, or probation.

E. Any person who is at least eighteen (18) years of age and who violates the provisions of this section by using or soliciting the use of services of a person less than eighteen (18) years of age to distribute, dispense, transport with intent to distribute or dispense or cultivate a controlled dangerous substance or by distributing a controlled dangerous substance to a person under eighteen (18) years of age, is punishable by twice the fine and by twice the imprisonment otherwise authorized.

F. Any person who violates any provision of this section by transporting with intent to distribute or dispense, distributing or possessing with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance to a person, or violation of subsection G of this section, in or on, or within two thousand (2,000) feet of the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school, public vocational school, public or private college or university, or other institution of higher education, recreation center or public park, including state parks and recreation areas, public housing project, or child care facility as defined by Section 402 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes, shall be punished by:

1. For a first offense, a term of imprisonment, or by the imposition of a fine or by both, not exceeding twice that authorized by the appropriate provision of this section and shall serve a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of the sentence received prior to becoming eligible for state correctional institution earned credits toward the completion of the sentence; or

2. For a second or subsequent offense, a term of imprisonment as provided for a habitual offender pursuant to Section 51.1 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes. In addition, the violator shall serve eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence received prior to becoming eligible for state correctional institution earned credits toward the completion of the sentence or eligibility for parole.

G. 1. Except as authorized by the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, it shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture or attempt to manufacture any controlled dangerous substance or possess any substance listed in Section 2-322 of this title or any substance containing any detectable amount of pseudoephedrine or its salts, optical isomers or salts of optical isomers, iodine or its salts, optical isomers or salts of optical isomers, hydriodic acid, sodium metal, lithium metal, anhydrous ammonia, phosphorus, or organic solvents with the intent to use that substance to manufacture a controlled dangerous substance.

2. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection with respect to the unlawful manufacturing or attempting to unlawfully manufacture any controlled dangerous substance, or possessing any substance listed in this subsection or Section 2-322 of this title, upon conviction, is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than seven (7) years nor more than life and by a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment. The possession of any amount of anhydrous ammonia in an unauthorized container shall be prima facie evidence of intent to use such substance to manufacture a controlled dangerous substance.

3. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection with respect to the unlawful manufacturing or attempting to unlawfully manufacture any controlled dangerous substance in the following amounts:

a. one (1) kilogram or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin,

b. five (5) kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of:

(1) coca leaves, except coca leaves and extracts of coca leaves from which cocaine, ecgonine, and derivatives of ecgonine or their salts have been removed,

(2) cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers,

(3) ecgonine, its derivatives, their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers, or

(4) any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of any of the substances referred to in divisions (1) through (3) of this subparagraph,

c. fifty (50) grams or more of a mixture or substance described in division (2) of subparagraph b of this paragraph which contains cocaine base,

d. one hundred (100) grams or more of phencyclidine (PCP) or 1 kilogram or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of phencyclidine (PCP),

e. ten (10) grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD),

f. four hundred (400) grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-pheylethy)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide or 100 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of any analogue of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide,

g. one thousand (1,000) kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of marihuana or one thousand (1000) or more marihuana plants regardless of weight, or

h. fifty (50) grams or more of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers or 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, or salts of its isomers,

upon conviction, is guilty of aggravated manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance punishable by imprisonment for not less than twenty (20) years nor more than life and by a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), which shall be in addition to other punishment provided by law and shall not be imposed in lieu of other punishment. Any person convicted of a violation of the provisions of this paragraph shall be required to serve a minimum of eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence received prior to becoming eligible for state correctional earned credits towards the completion of the sentence or eligible for parole.

4. Any sentence to the custody of the Department of Corrections for any violation of paragraph 3 of this subsection shall not be subject to statutory provisions for suspended sentences, deferred sentences, or probation. A person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of the provisions of paragraph 3 of this subsection shall be punished as a habitual offender pursuant to Section 51.1 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes and shall be required to serve a minimum of eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence received prior to becoming eligible for state correctional earned credits or eligibility for parole.

5. Any person who has been convicted of manufacturing or attempting to manufacture methamphetamine pursuant to the provisions of this subsection and who, after such conviction, purchases or attempts to purchase, receive or otherwise acquire any product, mixture, or preparation containing any detectable quantity of base pseudoephedrine or ephedrine shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term in the range of twice the minimum term provided for in paragraph 2 of this subsection.

H. Any person convicted of any offense described in the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act may, in addition to the fine imposed, be assessed an amount not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the fine imposed. Such assessment shall be paid into a revolving fund for enforcement of controlled dangerous substances created pursuant to Section 2-506 of this title.

I. Any person convicted of any offense described in this section shall, in addition to any fine imposed, pay a special assessment trauma-care fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) to be deposited into the Trauma Care Assistance Revolving Fund created in Section 1-2522 of this title.

J. For purposes of this section, "public housing project" means any dwelling or accommodations operated as a state or federally subsidized multifamily housing project by any housing authority, nonprofit corporation or municipal developer or housing projects created pursuant to the Oklahoma Housing Authorities Act.

K. When a person is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of this section, the court shall order, in addition to any other penalty, the defendant to pay a one-hundred-dollar assessment to be deposited in the Drug Abuse Education and Treatment Revolving Fund created in Section 2-503.2 of this title, upon collection.

Title 63 O.S. 2-420 provides:


A. Any person charged with aggravated trafficking pursuant to Section 2-415 of this title shall not be subject to pretrial release as specified in Section 1105.3 of Title 22 of the Oklahoma Statutes and shall not be released on bail without a Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring device attached to the person and cost thereof paid by such person at his or her own expense until after the conclusion of the criminal case. The Department of Corrections shall monitor such GPS monitoring device and the person until the conclusion of the case, and the person shall pay a supervision fee as provided for other persons subject to supervision by the Department. At the conclusion of the case, the court shall order the removal of the GPS monitoring device if the person is acquitted or is to be incarcerated or the case is dismissed.

B. The Department of Corrections shall maintain statistical records on any aggravated trafficking offense, including a calculation of the time period from arrest to disposition, and if the person is convicted, the term of sentence, length of sentence actually served in incarceration, amount of the fine imposed, whether any enhancements or co-occurring offenses were involved, whether the person is determined upon reception into the custody of the Department to be an addicted person, and whether the person has prior convictions by stating the prior offenses.

Outcome: REDUCED TO MISDEMEANOR PARAPHERNALIA 1 YEAR DEFERRED SENTENCE; DA SUPERVISION, $100.00 FINE, COURT COSTS

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: