By Nathaniel Pitoniak on April 25th, 2017 in Criminal Defense, Drug Crimes
When someone is charged with possession of illegal drugs, they often ask what the best criminal defense strategies or defense lawyer tactics are.
Defenses for Drug Cases
A criminal defense lawyer in Houston may use several strategies to try to defeat a drug case. The manner in which the drugs were seized may be attacked. For example, if the drugs were seized in a car, the cops need to have had reasonable suspicion to believe you had committed a crime in order to pull you over. Beyond this, they may have needed probable cause to search your vehicle in some circumstances. In contrast, if the drugs were seized in your house, the validity of the search warrant will sometimes determine the admissibility of the illegal drugs.
If your constitutional rights were violated during the course of seizing the drugs, the evidence may not be admitted into evidence following a successful motion to suppress evidence. In other words, evidence seized in violation of your constitutional rights may not be used against you and the case may be dismissed. This is a principle underpinning criminal law.
Beyond this, whether or not you were actually in possession of illegal drugs turns on whether you exercised care, custody, or control over them. In many cases, the police cannot establish affirmative links between the seized controlled substance and the person accused of possessing them.
As explained elsewhere on this site, the type of drugs allegedly possessed as well as the amount of drugs and any prior criminal history will impact the potential punishment range for drug charges.
Criminal Defense Lawyers and Drug Crimes
As criminal defense lawyers in Houston know, under certain circumstances, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office offers pre-trial intervention for possession of certain controlled substances, which is a deal where you can avoid a conviction and have your case dismissed if you enter into a contract agreeing to do certain things and refrain from doing others.
Sometimes, a case may be dismissed because the “drug” is not actually a drug. Nathaniel Pitoniak has obtained a dismissal for possession of cocaine where, despite the substance field testing positive for cocaine when the police tested it at the scene of the arrest, laboratory results revealed the alleged cocaine was not actually cocaine.
Nathaniel Pitoniak has been hired by the parents or other loved ones of people charged with drug crimes. Beyond the direct consequences associated with a criminal arrest, Nathaniel Pitoniak strives to provide effective guidance to those afflicted with substance abuse issues. The ultimate consequence of illegal drug use, especially in the case of heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, may be death. Obtaining the proper treatment in conjunction with defending criminal defense charges can make a huge impact on a person’s chances of survival.
