Officer, Those Drugs Are For My Personal Use. Really!

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

“I had a defendant call, from jail of course, and I asked him, ‘what are you charged with? Drugs?’

‘Well, I am now telling them that it was all for my personal use!’

‘How much were you caught with?’

‘Well, I was caught with a lot! But it’s for my personal use!’

In the state of Washington here, marijuana is legal. But where is the line, that falls over to where nobody’s believing that this is for your personal use?”

Spencer Freeman – Criminal Defense Attorney – Pierce County, WA

“I don’t know if there is a bright line there.”

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

“It’s probably a big line there!”

Spencer Freeman – Criminal Defense Attorney – Pierce County, WA

“It also depends upon some other circumstances. Such as, the gentleman that called you, did he have a scale? Did he have a bunch of empty baggies that are commonly used for packaging it? Are there other circumstances, and other evidence that support that it’s being packaged and sold individually? It’s certainly possible for a person to just buy a lump sum of drugs and intend to use it for a long period of time. But I think that’s a level of proof the defendant’s going to have to come up with at trial that that’s what going on.”

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

“A jury would look at that and say ‘really?’”

Spencer Freeman – Criminal Defense Attorney – Pierce County, WA

“Maybe. But again, if you had a situation where you didn’t have a scale around, you didn’t have any other packing materials, you didn’t have any witnesses that say, ‘I bought drugs from this guy’. So, you got to look at the circumstances. But certainly, if you’ve got a pound of cocaine, it’s going to be hard to sell that. Sell the story, not hard to sell the cocaine!”

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

“It’s going to be different with cocaine, or meth, or anything versus straight marijuana.”

Born and raised in Colorado, Mr. Freeman stayed in the Pacific Northwest after graduating cum laude from Seattle University School of Law in 1995, at which time he was awarded the National Order of Barristers by the National Board of Governors. After gaining extensive trial experience as a prosecutor for the City of Tacoma, Mr. Freeman worked locally for several small law firms focused on personal injury and criminal defense. In 2000, he began to work at a downtown Seattle law firm, where he worked with some of the best lawyers in the nation. During the better part of the next six years, Mr. Freeman was blessed to do work for one of the largest national television providers litigating matters involving the theft of encrypted satellite signals. During this time, he worked closely with corporate counsel and assisted in developing and managing a national litigation campaign. He appeared in federal courts throughout the nation, gaining extensive experience in both federal court litigation and the pursuit of intellectual property thieves attempting to hide on the Internet.

In late 2005, Mr. Freeman decided to open a practice in Tacoma, where his family was growing. Mr. Freeman’s connections locally and nationally nourished his practice over time. He has served the local community as well as handling cases in federal courts across the country. Locally, Mr. Freeman has assisted local businesses in such matters as contentious shareholder disputes and individuals in matters ranging from catastrophic injuries to class A felonies as well as lawsuits against insurance companies for bad faith claims practices. He tried a Whatcom County Superior Court case for a bail bond company that resulted in the first appellate law in Washington truly outlining the rights of fugitive recovery agents. He has tried cases in many counties throughout the State of Washington, argued before the Court of Appeals Division I and Division II and the Washington State Supreme Court.

Mr. Freeman’s practice has taken him beyond Washington State, where he has handled cases for national Internet multi-media companies enforcing copyrights in states such as Florida, Nevada, Arizona, and California. In those cases, he has successfully argued for jurisdiction in the United States against individuals that reside in other countries. Mr. Freeman also represented a publisher against sheriffs regarding First Amendment Rights to distribute a magazine in county jails, resulting in arguments before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the first case law of its kind. He has argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals five times and submitted a briefing to the United States Supreme Court.

On more than several occasions, Mr. Freeman has been retained by parties on the near eve of a trial solely for purpose of being lead trial counsel. One such successful case was against the U.S. Department of Justice in their first trial attempting to enforce the CAN-SPAM Act for the actions of independent contractors.

Mr. Freeman’s passion and strength lay in front of a jury. He finds a beautiful balance between fact witnesses, statutes, case law, rules of evidence, and the different contexts of each jury. Most cases find a resolution before trial, but the best resolution occurs when counsel is prepared to try the case. And, when a case cannot find resolution, Mr. Freeman loves to go to work.