Why it is more hype than substance…
By Norm Kent, Esq., Member, NORML Board of Directors
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott and Company: ‘Michael Phelps, make our day!’
On this blog, I do not give legal advice. I express legal opinions. The legal opinion everyone is asking me about is can Michael Phelps actually be charged? After all, there is no proof there was anything in the pipe at all. There is no controlled substance to present to a court. There is not even a pipe that could lead to a paraphernalia charge. So how can they possibly prosecute him?
In my law office I have a steel Florida Marlin, stuffed by an ichthyologist, which I caught off the shores of Key West, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Under the fish, there is a plaque which reads, “Behold the bright, blue Marlin; this creature would not be here today had he not opened his big mouth yesterday.”
Michael Phelps should have come by and read it. His publicized admission that he toked from a bong at a frat party in a South Carolina dorm has stirred a whirlwind of controversy and put him in harm’s way.
The real bad news came from the sheriff in the jurisdiction where Michael allegedly toked up, with a pronouncement that he was going to investigate the case to see if he could prosecute young Mr. Phelps.
The sheriff’s public information teased the media: “The Richland County Sheriff’s Department is making an effort to determine if Mr. Phelps broke the law. If he did, he will be charged in the same manner as anyone else…”
Sheriff Leon Lott then commented to a local newspaper about the quality of his case. He stated that, “this one might be a lot easier since we have photographs of someone using drugs and a partial confession. It’s a relatively easy case once we can determine where the crime occurred.” Not so, Sheriff Lott. You are leaving out a lot.
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