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Meth hype by DEA Agent, prosecutor, gets life sentence overturned

Some 3-1/2 years ago I highlighted a case out of my hometown in Tyler wheretwo newlyweds were sentenced to life in prison for possessing 255 grams of meth. A DEA agent testified at trial that 255 grams was enough to get 45,000 people "high" -- "If those people were lined up side by side, they would form a line from downtown Tyler to Bullard about 17 miles, he said." Last month the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned punishment phase of the trial - on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel because the defendant's lawyer failed to object to testimony by a DEA Agent Downing (first name omitted), as well as for failing to call an expert witness to rebut the absurdist claims about 255 grams of meth getting 45,000 people high..The court also found the prosecutor in the case made prejudicial arguments during closing by telling the jury that "[p]eople are bringing [methamphetamine] through our county to its destination: Our kids and our family members, so it will poison them and turn them into addicts...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 11, 2010 (boomark / email).