Just because you are being charged with a drug-related crime does not mean you are guilty of committing the crime or even that you deserve the strictest punishment. There are a number of ways to beat a drug-related charge in California. The authorities could have improperly conducted a drug test (or field sobriety test ), participated in an illegal search and seizure, engaged in entrapment, and improperly arrested you without enough evidence.
You can also beat a drug charge by having your defense attorney help you argue that simple human error was to blame for either the police officer or yourself.
1. Illegal Search and Seizure
Every US citizen is endowed with constitutional rights, even when you are suspected of a crime or charged with a felony offense. The fourth amendment of the US constitution protects every American from unlawful search and seizure. A law enforcement officer is not allowed to search through your car or residence unless they have a court-ordered search warrant.
You and your criminal defense attorney can successfully beat a drug charge if drug paraphernalia was found due to an unreasonable search and seizure.
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2. Insufficient Evidence
In order to be convicted of any crime in the US court system, there needs to be a sufficient amount of evidence implementing you. You cannot be convicted if the judge or the jury cannot find you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
A criminal defense lawyer from the Simmerin Law Group could argue that the drugs the authorities found did not belong to you but rather a friend or family member of yours. You could be found not guilty if the prosecution cannot come up with sufficient evidence to prove otherwise.
3. Entrapment
It is not unheard of for a police officer to commit an act of entrapment against one of their suspects. Entrapment is when law enforcement tricks someone into committing a crime to secure their prosecution. The state of California has strict laws in place to help prevent the authorities from committing entrapment and to help protect people when entrapment is committed against them.
Entrapment does not just have to be manipulating someone into committing a crime. It can also deal with fraud, harassment, pressure, and threats.
A police officer is prohibited from harassing you and pressuring you to admit that certain drugs that were found are indeed your drugs. You should not have to feel like you have to admit to a crime when you truly did not commit one just because law enforcement is pressuring and threatening you.
Sting Operations
Entrapment can also involve police officers setting up a situation to catch a suspected criminal in the act. Sting operations are legal, but they must strictly follow the legal guidelines, or else they fall into the category of entrapment. Drug-related charges against you can be argued and dropped if your criminal defense lawyer can prove that entrapment had taken place.
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4. Improper Field Sobriety or Drug Test
Before being arrested and charged with a drug or alcohol DUI-related crime, a law enforcement officer must conduct a series of field sobriety tests and drug tests (like with a blood and/or urine sample). These drug tests are not always one hundred percent accurate, so there is a chance that they can result in a false positive. You should not have to suffer the harsh penalties of a drug-related offense all because a drug test was not working up to standard.
On the flip side, a field sobriety or drug test could be working completely fine. However, the police officer conducting the test could use it improperly.
This could be a result of pure ignorance about how the test works or an accident with no malicious intent behind it. However, it could also be a police officer purposely trying to implement you in a drug-related crime. For example, a law enforcement officer might have made you perform a walk-and-turn field sobriety test after pulling you over.
You could fail this test for a number of reasons, including the time of day, the weather, and nerves which can all affect the outcome of a field sobriety test. All of these reasons have nothing to do with being high on drugs, yet the officer has the discretion to arrest you for believing that you failed the test due to actually being high on drugs. A criminal defense attorney can help prove that the field sobriety test or drug test was conducted inaccurately and that the charges should be dropped.
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5. Simple Human Error
Making simple mistakes can happen to everyone. As previously mentioned, the authorities can make a simple mistake when conducting a field sobriety test or an official drug test. However, it is also entirely possible for you to have made a mistake as well. For example, you could have X amount of prescription drugs on your person, yet no prescription to show for it.
In this case, the police officer will have no choice but to arrest you because there is no evidence illustrating that you are legally allowed to have and take those drugs. Simple human error caused you to forget to have your prescription on you. By hiring a good criminal defense lawyer, we can argue that there is no need for a conviction and harsh penalties as we work to prove that the drugs you had on your person were indeed for a medical condition and prescribed to you by a medical professional.
Is It Worth It to Hire a Criminal Defense Attorney?
There are a handful of ways for a criminal defense lawyer to help you beat a drug-related charge in the state of California. Although you might feel like there is no hope in fighting the drug charge, it never hurts to sit down with a defense attorney for a free consultation and review your options going forward. It is always worth it to hire a criminal defense attorney when you are facing a steep uphill legal battle.
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