Quick Facts: The Truth About Drug Possession Charges
- 1. Not everyone is guaranteed a program.
- 2. Not all drug programs are equal.
- 3. Illegal Drug Possession searches happen more than Drug Sales searches.
- 4. Hire a drug crimes lawyer, as this is not the time to be playing with your future.
Drug Possessions = Programs (but not all the time)
While in jail, every client talks to other clients. The result? One is getting out that day to enter a treatment program while the other had their bail raised and is scheduled for another court date while they sit in jail. They both had the same drug and the same amount? What’s going on?
The reason why everyone does not gets a program is because the drug possession charges may be tied up with other non-drug related offenses. Therefore, the case has to be handled carefully and strategically. Another reason is the history of the offender. A person’s first possession charge has a good chance of being eligible for treatment. But if there have been other opportunities and probation violations from the past or if there was a firearm while caught with possession of drugs, you’re talking about a very different story.
If the person that was arrested is still in jail, the lawyer must take advantage of this time to gather critical information about the investigation and obtain facts that will give him a good idea on what strategy to adopt. If the person posted bail, this is an important time to sit down with their lawyer to develop a plan on fighting the case.
A Program is NOT just a program
If you are determined to be eligible for treatment, the next decision is to select a program or treatment center that will help you. But if you have never been to one of these, which one do you choose? If you lawyer had clients with bad experiences in one versus another, that would be valuable information for you to have.
Other treatment programs give randomized testing and strict guidelines that make it difficult for clients to complete the treatment successfully—further complicated the drug possession case and risking probation violations or new charges.
Illegal searches: Was it REALLY illegal?
The lawyer sets the stage for the drug possession case early. Using a good strategy, the schedule for investigating the evidence and gathering witnesses, character references, and obtaining critical police documents will help in fighting the charges.
But for first time clients, how would they know if their rights were violated without an attorney to ask them questions that would bring up the issue the right way? This is exactly the reason why drug possession cases have more instances of illegal searches than drug sales cases. The person possessing drugs doesn’t know their rights because they haven’t been through the system before. A seasoned officer may pick up on this and just cut to the chase during the arrest.
So the bottom line is that even though treatment and rehabilitation programs are good options for a serious criminal charge, you must not rule out the possibility that the arrest may have been conducted illegally. Playing your cards right, you may have a chance to avoid the charges altogether.
Hire a lawyer. This is not a challenge you want to take on your own.
These are critical stages during your case where your lawyer meets with the prosecution to exchange evidence, challenge the search or arrest with motions to suppress evidence, produce character or favorable evidence, and to negotiate your case to a good settlement. The complexity of California’s drug laws and the criminal procedure statutes that accompany are too large to handle for someone that is not familiar with it. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
