Question

IMPLICATED BY POLICE INFORMANT W/ PERSONAL GRUDGE
please help. i'm in santa barbara county, CA. here's my story:

an ex-boyfriend of mine became a police informant to get out of 3 felony drug charges. he told me all the details when he became a rat [i had broken up with him because he had become violent toward me and was soon after arrested for possession of meth].

while a rat, he was arrested 2 more times for the same drug offenses and also a new drug offense for possession of pills / opiates. he continued to rat when released.

my "ex", the rat, recently got mad at me for not taking him in after being evicted. to get back at me, i KNOW he pointed out my house to his "detective", stating that a man who is a drug dealer lives at my address. the rat told the detective that he had seen this "dealer" in possession of a quantity of drugs packaged for sale within 10 days of the filing of the affidavit for the search warrant for my property. i was currently providing temporary storage space to the man the rat implicated as a dealer.

the drugs mentioned to the detective were not seen by the rat at my house, and although the dealer did not live at my house, he had 2 cars parked on the street and things stored in a spare room. he was only supposed to be renting the space for 2 weeks, and i was trying to get him out because he never paid rent and had had his belongings there for over 3 weeks. i did not know he was in possession of drugs or that was a dealer.

the affidavit kept the identity of the rat confidential, but i knew who sent the pd in my direction. [after all, the rat had confessed his work for the pd to me and threatened to "throw me to the cops" if i refused to help him out in his "time of need".] the affidavit did not include any corroborating evidence by the police that any drugs were seen, bought or sold at my house, or that there was ongoing drug traffic there, or that they had ever seen the dealer at that address.

the only connection between the dealer and my house was the word of the detective's "credible and reliable" rat, and confirmation that the cars, which were registered in l.a. county [4 hours south of here], belonged to the dealer. only the dealer's name and my address were on the warrant.

on tuesday, i had picked up the paperwork necessary for obtaining a restraining order against the rat for his ongoing stalking, driving by my house many times per day and making threats against my life and property. that friday, my house was raided, drugs were found, and i was arrested. the man named in the warrant was also there and was arrested. he told the pd all the drugs were mine.

i was not found to be under the influence, told the pd i had been away house sitting all week and had just arrived back an hour before, and that my "renter" let the rat into my house the day before against my implicit directions to never allow the rat onto my property. i also told the pd that i had a previous domestic violence complaint filed against the rat and was filing a petition for a restraining order based on threats of violence. i said i had the feeling i was being set up because their rat had a personal vendetta against me.

prior to the raid, verbal threats were made to me by the rat threatening to get me thrown in jail by naming me to his detectives and implicating me in a crime. unfortunately, i have no recordings of these particular threats. the rat told me that he could get me put in jail "with just one word to the police".

i told the detective this, and also the name of the rat and other details only the rat and the pd would know. the detective denied any knowledge of a person or a rat by that name, but later admitted to me, one-on-one, he knew the guy, and that the rat was on his, "shit list" for non-cooperation.

5 days later, the rat was arrested on new drug charges and probation violation and is currently in jail facing federal time, no bail.

additionally, a week after my arraignment, charges of grand theft were filed against the same "credible and reliable" rat after he was discovered to be the one committing a string of 5 previously unsolved commercial break-ins at his former place of employment over the last 2 years. doesn't this latest charge in itself serve to discredit him?

please help me with a few questions i have. any advice on how to discredit this rat, or the search warrant, are welcome, as my court-appointed atty. [who served this same court as a judge and was disbarred over a cocaine charge and now practices privately and does some pro-bono work for the county] wants me to plea to felony charges of possession and sales that i am not guilty of.

my attorney doesn't seem to be on my side. i think the d.a. and detectives will lose face if their rat is discredited, so are clamoring for a conviction. my attorney says bringing up my past with the rat, his abuse, or the stalking and threats he's made against me will not serve to discredit him as an informant or prove to be a conflict of interest.

my attorney says that because the dealer told police that i had asked him to buy the drugs for me, and this statement is quoted in the police report, the d.a. will believe the dealer over me-- regardless of the fact that i never asked him to buy any drugs, and regardless of the fact that the dealer has served years in prison for many prior drug convictions. is the report really admissible in court as my attorney says? why wouldn't his statement be considered heresay?


i have no record. i have never been arrested. i do not do drugs. i own my home. i work 2 jobs. i pay my taxes. i am not guilty.

i only made a bad decision and rented to the wrong guy.

oh yeah, i guess i also pissed off an ex-boyfriend/convicted felon/confidential informant who's desperate to stay out of prison and seems to have an unnatural hatred of me.

what should i do? i've been researching the law and similar cases and think i should ask for a special hearing contesting the validity of the search warrant. i have to do this at my next court date, this friday, or i may be wrongfully convicted. am i right?

thank you for your advice, and i will answer any questions to help.



Edited by XX-XXXXXXXX on 7/27/2008 at 10:32 PM