Pubdate: Mon, 05 Feb 2007 Source: Bradenton Herald (FL) Copyright: 2007 Bradenton Herald Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) STATE -- JUSTICES SHOULD REJECT DISABLED MAN'S DRUG APPEAL TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A wheelchair-bound man's appeal of a drug trafficking conviction for obtaining large amounts of prescription drugs he said were to control severe pain should be rejected, the state argued in papers filed Monday with the Florida Supreme Court. Richard Paey, now serving a 25-year minimum mandatory prison sentence, contends an appellate court misapplied the state's drug trafficking law when it upheld his conviction in December even though there was no evidence he ever sold or distributed the painkillers. Lawyers for Attorney General Bill McCollum replied that Paey failed to allege sufficient grounds to warrant the Supreme Court's jurisdiction. They contended the 2nd District Court of Appeal's 2-1 decision did not "expressly" declare the trafficking law to be valid, nor did it "expressly" construe a provision of the state or federal constitution. The state also argued it did not directly conflict with decisions of other appellate courts or the Supreme Court. The law at issue classifies the possession of large amounts of controlled substances as trafficking regardless of they were sold or distributed. Paey's lawyers contend the justices should take jurisdiction in part because the 2nd District misconstrued a 1981 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the law. In that case, the high court wrote the minimum mandatory penalty should apply "from the importer-organizer down to the pusher on the street." The Pasco County man contends he was not part of any trafficking scheme and possessed the drugs strictly for medical use. A former lawyer and father of three, Paey injured his back in a 1985 car crash and suffers from multiple sclerosis. He said only large amounts of strong narcotics calmed his pain. Prosecutors alleged that using forged prescriptions to obtain so many pills meant he had to be selling them. Paey said he got undated prescription forms from a New Jersey doctor because Florida physicians were reluctant to prescribe drugs in the amounts he needs. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman