It worked. For the first time in Florida history, a Broward jury acquitted a marijuana grower after finding he has a medical need for the illegal drug. Jesse Teplicki hid nothing from the detectives who showed up at his Hollywood home two years ago acting on a tip that he was growing pot on the premises. And he hid nothing from the jury on Thursday when he took the stand at his criminal trial, even admitting that he smoked a marijuana cigarette earlier in the day to treat the nausea and suppressed appetite that had been plaguing him for decades. Teplicki is the first defendant in Florida to argue medical need in a marijuana case. The jury of four women and two men deliberated for less than an hour before returning its verdict. [continues 386 words]
Report Says Drug Arrest Was Made in Broward, but Lawyer Says It Was Boca Two Broward sheriff's deputies followed a suspected drug dealer into Palm Beach County, found marijuana in his Ford pickup, arrested him and brought him back to Broward County-then lied about where they made the arrest, a defense lawyer said Tuesday. Brian Giunto, 38, was arrested on April 26, 2013, and charged with possession of cannabis with intent to sell, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. [continues 583 words]
For thousands of defendants charged with possessing small amounts of marijuana, a Broward judge may soon be offering a compassionate break that would hold them accountable for their offenses while still keeping their criminal records clean. Broward County Judge Giselle Pollack, head of misdemeanor drug court, said she sees somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of the marijuana possession cases that come to the Broward County Courthouse. But she wants all marijuana arrests, no matter how many times the defendant has been charged with the same offense before. [continues 593 words]
Jury Deadlocks On Trespassing Charge FORT LAUDERDALE -- A Miramar police officer was found guilty on Monday of official misconduct, falsifying records and criminal mischief in connection with the search of a drug suspect's apartment in 2010. Officer Jean Paul Jacobi bowed his head as the verdicts against him were read late Monday afternoon. The jury deliberated more than four hours before announcing they reached a partial verdict, deadlocking on trespass charges against Jacobi and his co-defendant, Det. Jennifer Conger. Broward Circuit Judge Raag Singhal declared a mistrial on those charges. [continues 544 words]
Law enforcement officials shut down the offices of a chiropractor and a medical doctor Tuesday, charging each with illegally prescribing Oxycodone, Xanax, Valium and other powerful painkilling drugs. Dr. Raul De Jesus Jimenez, 51, was arrested Tuesday morning while he was writing a prescription in his car at a parking lot between his Fort Lauderdale home and his office in Pompano Beach, said Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Hugh Graf. Detectives later arrested Kathy Anne Ragone, a chiropractor who runs the Tender Loving Multi-Medical Pain Center in Oakland Park, and charged her with conspiracy and with practicing medicine without a license. Chiropractors are not permitted to prescribe drugs, but Graf said between Jimenez and Ragone, undercover investigators were able to buy 2,000 pills in a six-month period. [continues 314 words]
