Possession of Cocaine for Sale – 11351 Health and Safety Code
Considered to be much more serious than possessing cocaine for personal use, sales charges carry many complexities that have to be dealt with carefully.
To keep it simple, it should be no surprise that if possession is not an issue, then it should be the primary goal of challenging the so-called “intent” of the possession as being for purposes of sales. To do this, one has to know what those factors are that make police agencies and prosecutors believe possession of cocaine is for selling it.
What Does it Mean to “Possess” Cocaine for Sale?
To make matter clear, police do not have to catch you actually selling cocaine to another person to charge you with possession for sale. In the vast majority of cases, that is not the case. The factors that indicate the cocaine was being possessed for the purpose of sales are: a large amount (more than the average user would consume), sophisticated packaging, scales, price sheets, transaction forms, text messages indicating transactions, etc.
On the topic of text messages on your phone, this can be tricky. The way in which your phone was searched by law enforcement becomes a critical stage in the case because a lawyer must analyze the interchange on Fourth Amendment grounds—and determine whether the reading of the text messages was permitted or not. If not, the entire case can be dismissed due to improper search under the US Constitution.
Can More than One Person be Charged with Possessing Cocaine for Sale?
Yes. This happens more frequently than you would believe. Most of the time the one who is most actively selling cocaine does so with others around. In the unfortunate circumstance where someone is along for the ride, and police detain everyone in the vehicle; people will tend to stay silent after their Miranda rights are read to them. Because of this, if nobody acknowledges control of the cocaine, all will be arrested because police will have no choice but to assume everyone was in on it. Once the case comes to court, it will be up to the lawyer defending you to separate the facts and determine where blame should be.
Do You have to Know that the Drug is Actual Cocaine?
Considering how many times people ask others to deliver a package for them, the answer is No. Only that it was an illegal substance. Keep in mind however that there may be countless scenarios where someone actually does not know what is going on. For these situations the facts must support the ignorance and the only way to do that is by conducting a thorough investigation.
What can be done to Fight Possession of Cocaine Sales Charges?
There are countless scenarios that can get someone in trouble with this charge, and there are just as many defenses. The bottom line is that every case is it’s own challenge and must be assessed on its own. Having a lawyer navigate you through the charges is the first step before discussing your options and what the likelihood of the case will be.