Fla. Doctor Gets Life in Prison for Drug Deaths
Freddie Williams, 54, a doctor who practiced in Florida's Panhandle, has
received a life term in prison for prescribing oxycodone to two patients
who later died of overdoses.
U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers held Williams responsible for the 2002
death of Brian Sanders and the 2000 death of Bonnie Ramos. The doctor was
charged with illegally prescribing and dispensing medications.
In addition to the prison sentence, Rodgers ordered Williams to pay $2
million in restitution to medical insurance providers and a wholesale
pharmaceutical distributor.
Williams said he was innocent, blaming the problem on patients who lied to
him or wrote fake prescriptions.
"I prescribed narcotics in good faith and for legitimate medical
purposes," Williams said.|||
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 U.S. Supreme Court to Decide on Legality of Drug Dog Searches
The United States Supreme Court will determine whether the use of
drug-detection dogs at traffic stops is an invasion of privacy.
Roy Caballes who was pulled over six years ago by Illinois state trooper
Daniel Gillette for driving six miles per hour over the posted speed limit
of 65. Gillette was planning to let Caballes go with a warning until a
second trooper arrived with a drug-detection dog. The dog began to walk
around Caballes' car and reacted to a scent in the trunk that turned out
to be a shipment of marijuana.
Caballes was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 12 years in
prison. However, the Illinois Supreme Court threw out Caballes' conviction
last year, ruling that Gillette had extended the traffic stop based on
"nothing more than a vague hunch" that Caballes' profile fit that of a
drug dealer.
The state of Illinois appealed the case to the high court. The U.S.
Supreme Court will determine whether the use of a drug-detection dog on a
routine traffic offense is legal or if police need a specific
justification.
In previous cases, the justices had ruled that dog sniffs were not
searches and therefore required no special justification.
"Dog sniffs are very unique," said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan
in opening arguments in the case. "They are only going to reveal the
presence or absence of contraband, and this court has held that there is
no privacy interest in contraband."||| |
