Staff Reports
The Supreme Court is leaping into a big ol’ bucket of legal soup over a gotta-see case involving drug trafficking at the border. See, there’s this California gal named Delilah Diaz who got herself into a fine pickle down at the southern border when she was nabbed with a bunch of methamphetamine squirrelled away in her vehicle. Now, Diaz says she had no clue those drugs were in her car. She’s claiming she was just borrowing her boyfriend’s ride and had no idea she was hauling around a load of illegal goodies.
Supreme Court takes dispute over role of experts in 'blind' drug mule cases https://t.co/TxYWEhBwtp https://t.co/TxYWEhBwtp
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 13, 2023
Well, her legal eagles are squawking about how crucial it is to have some fancy-pants expert witnesses come in and talk about whether most folks caught with drugs actually know they’re schlepping illegal substances. They’re arguing that this kind of talk from the experts can be the diff between walking away scot-free and serving up some serious prison time. Diaz’s lawyers are serving up some word salad about how the rules about what expert witnesses can and can’t blabber about are all mixed up and need a good stern talking to from the Supremes.
Here’s the scoop: the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Diaz’s conviction was A-OK, cause the rule about expert witnesses only stops them from saying whether a specific person knew they were doing crimes, not from chatting up about all the other folks out there taking a joy ride with a trunk full of contraband. Diaz’s attorneys are yammering about how this is a real head-scratcher for the justices and how they need to straighten out the mess caused by different rulings in different circuit courts.
The Justice Department honcho, Elizabeth Prelogar, ain’t taking Diaz’s story too seriously, though. She’s calling it a “flimsy story” and saying the jury didn’t need any expert chatter to figure out that Diaz was hip to the stash in her car. Prelogar’s arguing that even without any fancy talk about drug-courier doings, the jury would’ve sniffed out Diaz’s involvement faster than a bloodhound on a hot trail.
So, buckle up, folks, ’cause this legal rodeo is gonna be one heck of a ride. The Supreme Court is gearing up to tackle this hot mess, and you can bet it’s gonna be a regular ol’ hootenanny of arguments and legal jibber-jabber. Yeehaw!
