Feds make sure Ricky Darden gets life for possession after Maryland Supreme Court threw out case. Re
A Maryland state judge threw out a possession charge against Darden, ruling that the officers did not have probable cause to detain Darden and search his bag.The Maryland Supreme Court upheld the ruling that the search was unconstitutional.
Federal prosecutors decided to prosecute two years after the incident that was the basis for the charges. Darden was arrested four years after he committed his crime—when he was stopped for a traffic violation.
Because of his prior drug felonies, he received a mandatory LWOP sentence; he had two prior felony drug convictions for criminal sale of a controlled substance at age 19 and attempted criminal possession of 14 grams of cocaine at age 23.
Darden told the ACLU, “At times I get depressed…. It’s hard, with the thought one may never get out of prison. My family all think that I ... took someone’s life to have got this much time.”
He has two children, a son and a daughter who was 18 months old when he was imprisoned. Darden, who had dropped out of school in the tenth grade, has earned his GED in prison. While imprisoned, he has focused on studying and gaining vocational skills. He has been certified in construction and floor care, and he is working on an apprenticeship as a custodian.
He adds, “If given a chance to be, I would show and prove that I’m not someone that deserves to be locked up like this. I just want a chance to prove that I’m not a threat.”
and US vs Darden.
No Harsh Justice inmate has ever been convicted of a violent crime.
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