Officer Landonio is now on the drug task force. He and three other officers have to serve a search warrant regarding a stolen 50-inch plasma television set. He serves the search warrant and walks into the residence with the three officers. Sitting on the coffee table is a variety of narcotics, both prescription and illegal. What are his options at this time?

During the search, one officer opens a kitchen cabinet and finds a kilogram of cocaine. Can Officer Landonio take this as evidence and arrest the residents? Why or why not? What would be the next step in this process?

Check the laws in a U.S. state of your choosing and the requirements of arrest warrants. Be sure to use references and citations in your material.

Assignment Guidelines

Address the following in 3–5 pages:

• Can Officer Landonio take the cocaine as evidence? Why or why not?
• Assuming that the residents of the dwelling are present, what are Officer Landonio’s options upon finding the prescribed and illegal narcotics on the table? Explain.
  • What actions will he be required to take by law? Explain.
    • You will need to fabricate the details or at least address multiple possibilities for this case.
  • How does discretion come into play in this case?
  • How can nonresidents present in the dwelling be handled? Explain.
    • With what can they be charged if arrested? Explain.
• If the residents are arrested, what are the next steps in the process? Explain.
• Can drug courts come into play regarding this case? Why or why not?
• Typically, when will drug law offenders be fined, and when will they be incarcerated? Explain.
• Be sure to reference all sources using APA style.

When complete, submit your assignment.

The following grading rubric will be used for this assignment.

here is our course textbook for reference: Abadinsky, H. (2017). Drug Use and Abuse: A Comprehensive Introduction (9th Edition). Cengage Limited.

Also my state is Texas if this helps

Answer preview

The Texas criminal process begins immediately after someone has been arrested. After the arrest, the officer will take fingerprints and pictures of the alleged offender and hold them in jail until they are scheduled to appear in court (Mata & Keasler, 2020). However, the alleged offender is not supposed to stay in jail for more than forty-eight hours without appearing in front of the judge. After seeing the judge, their bond is set where they can settle it and get released until they are required to come back to court to answer their charges. Arraigning in court will determine whether the non-resident was involved in the drug possession or not. However, no arrest slides without a jail time, bond, fine, or both, and that’s why it is advisable to hire an attorney once one is arrested.

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