Meet 22 y/o Marina McCarthy. That’s her mug shot below. Marina was arrested on Friday, March 13th, 2015 in Glen Rock, New Jersey for possession of heroin, but the circumstances surrounding her charges are, er, interesting….
For starters, Marina, who is six (6) months pregnant, was a mere passenger in a vehicle which was being operated by her boyfriend, 27 y/o Dakota Dunning (the duo are pictured below in happier times and circumstances).
So Dakota was tooling down the Jersey roadway with no driver license and a temporary license plate – which was not entirely visible and which led to their traffic stop, and, like many a routine traffic stop, this one blossomed into more. Officers found that the vehicle was unregistered and uninsured, that the driver had a suspended license and, as a the creme-de-la-creme, that each of the car’s occupants (both Marina and Dakota) had an outstanding warrant for each’s arrest.
Apart from the fact that they were both being taken into custody on their outstanding warrant the cops got increasingly suspicious that there were drugs on the scene as they spotted what appeared to be “fresh needle track marks” on Dakota, so, naturally, they called in a police K-9, which confirmed their suspicion after detecting an illegal substance. However, a search of the vehicle revealed no drugs, so the couple were arrested and taken to the Glen Rock Police Department for further questioning.
It was at the police station and only after a detective had reviewed the CCTV footage from inside of the police SUV that cops spotted Marina stuffing what appeared to be packages down her pants. Because of her visible pregnancy Marina had been handcuffed in the front of her body, providing her access to the zipper area of her pants. A female police officer watched Marina while she retrieved the bags of heroin from her body in the bathroom at the police station and now she faces up to five (5) years in jail for allegedly hiding 89 packets of heroin inside a “body cavity”. Police describe the packages of heroin powder as having been tightly packed together and collectively, being no bigger than a piece of Laffy Taffy candy.
Memo to Marina: The only thing worse than being arrested is giving birth in custody.
Memo to Dakota: If you are going to drive with your pregnant girlfriend in an unregistered vehicle with a suspended driver license and 89 baggies of heroin it may be a good idea to make sure that the bogus temporary tag is – at a minimum – properly affixed to the vehicle.
Memo to the Folks: 1) Unless you live in the 305 COP CARS ARE WIRED and anything that you either say or do will be preserved for evidence and can be used against you in a subsequent prosecution; 2) Traffic stops are always tempests in a teapot – anything can happen and cops go into each and every one knowing that. The smart move is not to put yourself into a position, and not to do anything which will, elevate the situation beyond the scope of the initial stop; 3) If things do escalate then always maintain your cool – be pleasant, polite and cooperative and concurrently INVOKE; & 4)…
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Top notch, very skilled, and highly attentive. Mr. Haber is a fantastic criminal defense attorney. 
- Thanks again. You are second to none when it comes to defending your clients. For that, I thank you
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