The Addict's Defence

In January 1970, the Metropolitan Police investigated a heroin trafficking operation at a hotel in northwest Washington, D.C. Working with an informant under Police supervision, officers made controlled heroin purchases from two suspects operating out of two hotel rooms. The Defendant was found in possession of heroin. He was indicted on four counts relating to heroin possession and distribution. At trial, the Defendant's Defence centered on his status as a chronic heroin addict. He proffered expert testimony that his habit required more than 50 capsules of heroin per day, that his addiction was so severe as to amount to an overpowering physiological and psychological compulsion to possess and use the drug, that he was currently enrolled in a methadone treatment program, and that his rehabilitation prospects were good. The trial Court refused to instruct the jury that a non-trafficking heroin addict could not be convicted of possession based on his addiction-compulsion.