La Plata, MD – Abraham Lincoln once said, “The man who represents himself in court has a fool for a lawyer.”
Someone should have told that to Travis Everett Jones, 30, of Baltimore, who despite repeated pleas by his family to get legal representation, decided to be his own lawyer and may pay a hefty price for his decision.
A Charles County Circuit Court jury sitting before Judge H. James West found Jones guilty of possession with intent to distribute Oxycodone and using a false prescription to obtain it Tuesday, June 7.
He was found not guilty of conspiracy charges.
The two-day trial featured testimony from three police officers, two from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office and one from the La Plata Police Department.
The more questions Jones asked of the officers, the deeper he seemed to dig his own grave.
Officer Darin Behm testified he detected a heavy odor of potpourri when he approached the car Sept. 17, 2014, which he said is usually used to hide or mask the scent of narcotics.
When CCSO K9 Officer Robert Neilson arrived on the scene, the dog immediately “marked” on the vehicle.
Inside the console of a rented car, they found 150 Oxycodone pills worth $4,500 and in the passenger door pocket found a fraudulent prescription slip used to obtain the drugs.
Behm said the drugs were paid for in cash and receipts showed cash change was rendered in the transaction.
Jones, he said, was the only occupant with cash in his pockets.
Neilson testified that they also found ashes from a marijuana cigarette, but said it was inconsequential to the narcotics found.
Jones asked the officer if that couldn’t have been what the dog marked on.
“I did not charge you with marijuana possession,” Neilson countered. “I charged you with Oxycodone possession.”
The defendant kept trying to get Behm to admit that he based his report on Neilson’s charging documents, which brought an objection by Charles County Assistant State’s Attorney Jonathan Beattie, an objection sustained by the judge.
Over and over, Jones kept trying to ask the question until West brought both the defendant and the prosecutor up to the bench.
When proceedings resumed, Jones tried again.
“Ask another question,” the judge told him.
He finally said he had no more questions.
The defendant also kept flip-flopping on whether or not he would himself testify, at first telling the judge he wouldn’t, then saying he would, before finally deciding not to.
Beattie’s shining moment came when he told the jury, “We have the defendant in the car when the stop was made, you have the money, you have the sheer value of the drugs, you have the fraudulent prescription drugs obtained from CVS, you have intent to distribute, two individuals in a rental car which drug dealers often use so the tags on the car can’t be traced to them, and only one individual has a driver’s license.
“The state would submit we have presented a substantial case,” Beattie added.
Lincoln’s famous quote certainly rang true once the jury delivered its verdict.
Before the case ever came to trial, Jones was offered a deal by the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office where he could get out of jail with just the time he had already served and go home.
The defendant rejected that offer and repeatedly tried to tell the judge that because the arresting officers had misspelled his middle name, they had the wrong man.
Jones is now facing 40 years of incarceration and is being held without bond.
His sentencing is July 28.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com
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