KNOWING THE LAW MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN MOUNTING A DEFENSE.

How Drug Cases Are Viewed by Law Enforcement: There are many kinds of drug charges.  Drug crimes include simple possession, possession with intent to sell, transporting, importing, and possession of pipe or paraphernalia.  Police and prosecutors think of people who sell, transport, or import drugs as the “bigger fish.”  In other words, police and prosecutors would rather prosecute “drug dealers” because it makes police and prosecutors appear more accomplished.  So naturally, there is a tendency for prosecutors and police to exaggerate the nature of a case to view even borderline cases as “dealer” cases.  This is called over-charging.

How To Handle Drug Cases: Drug use and addiction are serious societal problems.  Unfortunately, our criminal justice system operates inconsistently in handling these cases.  On the one hand, our criminal justice system provides for harsh punishments such as jail or prison.  On the other hand, the system also offers treatment programs, rehabilitation, education, and second chances for offenses of this nature.  However, these options are typically available only to those who are just users of drugs.  If the prosecutor can successfully characterize your case as “selling,” “transporting,” or “sharing” of drugs, the case is more serious, and so second chances and treatment options are no longer available.  Your defense attorney needs to be skillful and experienced enough to be able to determine when the prosecutor really has enough evidence or whether your case is being over-charged.  Overcharging is an insidious technique meant to coerce an accused person into pleading guilty to a lesser crime to avoid being possibly convicted of a more serious crime.  Experience makes the difference, but the laws are changing, and so must an effective defense.

Some drug crimes are misdemeanors and some are felonies.  Some drugs are not illegal to possess.  Some involve mandatory jail time, while some charges do not allow courts to impose ANY confinement time.  Even more confusing is that the same case or conduct can be both a felony and a misdemeanor.  Some drug charges can be easily bargained down to lesser crimes, while other charges involve plea deals which the law guarantees can be dismissed, like it never happened.  Courts will offer special deals such as DEJ (Deferred entry of Judgment), Prop36, drug court, conditional pleas, and informal diversion.  Each deal has its advantages and disadvantages.

There are complicated defenses and changes in the law from year to year that can make a difference in your defense.  Hire only a lawyer who is experienced enough and gets educated regularly on changes in the law to help you navigate your way through all the possible charges, defenses, and sentence options.