Lawyer accused of having marijuana pipe is cleared
The judge rules the state lacks sufficient evidence in a case involving a pipe found in the attorney's briefcase at the courthouse.
By CARY DAVIS
Published June 20, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY - A judge has thrown out a misdemeanor charge against a Tampa lawyer accused of bringing a marijuana pipe into the courthouse in New Port Richey.
James Franklin Lowy, 35, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia in October after passing his briefcase through an X-ray machine for a routine security check. Inside the briefcase was a "suspicious" pipe, according to a Pasco Sheriff's Office report.
On the spot, court bailiffs conducted two tests on the pipe residue.The first test, records state, was negative for marijuana. The second test was positive.
But that's not enough to sustain a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, senior Judge William H. Seaver ruled in an order filed this week.
Seaver found it significant that a chemical analysis on the pipe by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement turned up no evidence of marijuana residue inside the pipe.
Prosecutor Scott Tremblay argued at a hearing earlier this month that there is a reasonable explanation for why the FDLE test came back negative: The bailiffs who initially examined the pipe scraped away all traces of marijuana residue. Therefore, Tremblay argued, prosecutors should at least be able to present the results of the bailiffs' field test to a jury.
But Judge Seaver, throwing out the case against Lowy, cited a Florida appeals court ruling that concluded a field test alone is not enough to support a conviction. And since the state has no other evidence, the judge ruled, the case is not strong enough to go to a jury.
Prosecutors said Thursday that they are considering an appeal.
Lowy, an attorney with the Florida Law Group in Tampa, said Thursday that the pipe "did not belong to me.
"I had no knowledge that the pipe was in my briefcase," he said.
