Four powerful defense options in your drug-related case
Drug charges, especially those pertaining to drug trafficking, can threaten to upend your life as you know it. If you’re convicted on these serious allegations, then you face the very real possibility of prison time and a criminal record that may haunt you for the rest of your life. We know that’s scary, which is why we’re here to help individual who have been accused of these crimes develop the aggressive criminal defense strategies that they need. The question, then, becomes what, exactly, you can do to protect yourself against zealous prosecutors who seem to have all the evidence on their side. Truth be told, you might have more options than you think.
Ways to defend against drug charges
Depending on the circumstances of your case, you might be able to utilize one or more effective defense strategies. Let’s look at some of them here:
- Suppression of evidence: As we’ve discussed previously on the blog, suppressing evidence is a highly effective way of beating back the prosecution’s case. If you were subjected to an illegal traffic stop or some other illegal search and seizure, then even the most damning evidence might be kept out of court. If you can do this, then you significantly increase your chances of dismissed charges or an acquittal.
- Miranda Rights Violation: A lot of drug crime convictions come from admissions made by the accused party to law enforcement. But an admission isn’t always legally obtained. Far too often law enforcement officers try to muscle an admission by denying an individual their Constitutional rights and filling the accused individual’s head with falsehoods. Before questioning you, the police should have read you your Miranda rights, which essentially say that you have the right against self-incrimination and to consult an attorney. You don’t have to speak with law enforcement without an attorney present. If you weren’t advised of these rights or you were denied access to an attorney, then your Miranda rights were probably violated and any admissions obtained by law enforcement may be deemed inadmissible.
- Entrapment: Undercover officers and criminal informants can place a lot of pressure on accused individuals to get them to act in a criminal fashion. If it can be shown that you wouldn’t have committed the act in question without pressure from law enforcement or a criminal informant, then you might be able to show entrapment and thereby beat your charges.
- Lack of intent: For some of the major drug crimes, like trafficking and distribution, the prosecution has to prove that you not only possessed narcotics, but also that you intended to traffic or distribute them. Proving intent is no easy feat, and it really opens the door for you to raise reasonable doubt. Therefore, when preparing your criminal defense, consider all of the circumstances surrounding your arrest and whether the prosecution’s case in this regard is lacking. Remember, you don’t have to prove that you lacked intent, you just have to demonstrate that the prosecution can’t prove that you had the requisite intent. That’s a big difference.
Leave your future in competent hands
If you’re facing serious drug charges like those pertaining to drug trafficking, then there’s no doubt that your future is on the line. That’s why you need the strongest criminal defense possible under the circumstances. Not every attorney is going to be able to give you that kind of representation. That’s why it’s imperative that you thoroughly research those firms that you’re considering for representation and ask what they have to offer and what they have shown that they can do. We take pride in our track record of success, so if you’d like to learn more about our firm, then we encourage you to continue to browse our website.