My messages were loaded with questions involving this event. Personally, I was surprise to received soo many inquiries about this case. To me, it wasn’t a big deal in that many people smoke or do drugs daily, but I guess because a celebrity’s name was attached, that made a difference. All asked in some form or another, can the sheriff actually charged Michael Phelps and a jury or judge convict him?

Well, the first part of the question was easy, yes the sheriff can charged him with possession! But keep in mind, law enforcers can charge a cucumber with possession! In other words, the law can charge you with any crime, but can they get a conviction or more aptly prove it? That’s a horse of a different color.

Well my opinion is, if the sheriff charge him, there will be no conviction, unless Mr. Phelps admits before a judge that he in fact smoked the drug (if he does that, he’s probably still high). The so called partial admission that you’ve seen on television doesn’t cut it (he apologized for inappropriate behavior, what does that mean?)  An admission of guilt to any crime has to be clear and concise!

Sheriff Leon Lott, sheriff of a small town in South Carolina has two major problems. The first, he must locate the actual location where the violation occurred. He needs this for the police report. Was the crime is his jurisdiction? Was it in Belfast, Ireland or Anchorage, Alaska?  His office may simply not have jurisdiction in the matter.  

The second problem is, where’s the evidence, which in this case is the pipe? The district attorney’s office would like to have that pipe as evidence not only to display before the judge, but have it tested to make sure he wasn’t smoking regular lawn grass. You see my point, where the evidence? Not to speak about something called chain of evidence! Who used the pipe since then? Has it been to Thailand or Asia since then? A difficult case indeed!

(A disclaimer: I don’t use drugs or approve of them, and have no personal opinion or gain about Mr. Phelps engaging in drugs or not. Matter of fact, between the ages of 15- 17 years, I smoked also, as yes I inhaled. Didn’t like it because I wasn’t able to efficiently steal cars! Just took me too long being spaced out! For swimmers, maybe, not for car thieves)

Why, if these items are needed then, would the sheriff charge him with drug possession anyway? It could be simply publicity! A stunt usually performed by want- to- be politicians with their eyes on a state or federal office! I’m not saying that the sheriff is guilty of this, but believe me, that’s what it’ll look like.

The only way I could see him charging Mr. Phelps is if the PEOPLE in his jurisdiction demand it! Crimes usually are processed if you have law enforcers observing the crime or if you have a victim. In this scenario the victim would be the people of South Carolina!

Anyway, South Carolina has experienced hundreds of murders and rapes lately. Maybe, just maybe, South Carolinians desire that those precious resources be spent solving the state’s many serious crime problems!.