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.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman