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Drug Case Drops Through At Court Again
posted (May 23, 2019)

Back in December 2017, it was major news when police arrested and charged 39 year-old Peter Schmidt, and 35 year-old Carlos Lopez for drug trafficking after they were allegedly busted with 5 kilos of cocaine. Well, both men are free again tonight after the sitting Magistrate ruled that police aren’t allowed to get a second bite at the cherry, after they fumbled the prosecution of this case in August of last year.   Â That was the date of the final adjournment, when the arresting officer failed to show up for court. So, at the time, their attorney, Ellis Arnold, submitted that they have no case to answer. Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford upheld that submission and dismissed the charges against them.

Police persisted and brought back the charges against both for a second time.

Well, when the case was called back up before Magistrate Michelle Trapp today, their attorney, Ellis Arnold, argued before the court that a defendant should not be tried for the same offense twice, because they were already freed of these offenses. After consideration, Magistrate Trapp agreed, and she dismissed the charges against Schmidt for a second time, allowing him to go free.  Lopez was not arrested or brought to court for this second trial.

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