What is a Drug Crime?
A drug crime is one involving the use, possession, or sale of either an illegal drug or a prescription drug in an illegal manner. The following are some, but not all criminal codes involving drug crimes.
Depending on the circumstances of your arrest, the following are some of the crimes you may be charged with:
Marijuana – Health & Safety Code § 113757 makes possession of marijuana a crime if you are under the age of 21.
- It is an infraction if you are under the age of 18.
- If you are 21 years old or more, then possession of up to 28.5 grams of marijuana is legal. Pursuant to Health & Safety Code § 11357(b)(2), possession of 28.5 grams or more of marijuana by a person 18 years or older is a misdemeanor.
Methamphetamine and other controlled drugs – Health & Safety Code § 11377 makes possession of methamphetamine a crime. Health & Safety Code§ 11378, criminalizes possession for sale of methamphetamine and other controlled drugs. These are serious offenses, but fortunately there is often a lot to work with in cases involving these crimes so give us a call to have your case evaluated.
Date Rape Drug (Ghb) – Health & Safety Code § 11377.5 makes it unlawful to possess this drug.
How Can We Help?
We can appear in court for and with you. In most cases, we can appear in court for you, so you don’t have to miss work, school, OR family. We will make all court appearances and call you that very same day to give you a report. The amount of time it takes to resolve a case depends on the circumstances, but on average it takes about 2 to 3 months to resolve a case. If you end up going to trial, it can take even more time. Keep in mind, each case is different and there is no one size fits all.
What are Potential Defenses?
Drug crimes are hard for the prosecution to prove in some cases. The important things to consider in all allegations involving drug crimes are:
- How did our client come to the attention of law enforcement?
- What did our client say to law enforcement (always assert your right to remain silent)?
- Was there a search and if so, was it by consent, probable cause, exigent circumstances, or warrant?
- What was allegedly found?
- Was it tested?
- What other evidence was also allegedly found?
- And more!
The potential defenses include, but are not limited to:
Our client had no knowledge of the drug. Many times our clients are driving their friend’s car or a recently purchased car, or even their own car and were unaware that there were drugs in the car they were driving. This is heart breaking because often people in this situation will agree to have their car searched not realizing that the cops will find drugs and then they are found and our client is arrested! It is humiliating. If this happens to you, call us and we will defend you and help you through this.
The quantity of drug found is no “useable.”This defense applies in cases where the amount of drug found is so small as to be un-useable. For instance, when you are charged for possession of methamphetamine and that charge is based on a small plastic baggie found in your wallet with only trace amounts of the drug. This is not a crime.
Officer did not have a right to search. If the officer violated your 4th Amendment right to be free of unreasonable search OR seizure, then the fact drugs were found after that violation may be suppressed and your case dismissed. It depends on the circumstances, of course, but we are always making sure that your rights were and are protected and if they were not, we will use that in your best interests.
What is the Fee?
In most cases we charge a flat fee for our criminal defense cases. We will have to meet with you either in person or by telephone for a ½ hour free consultation, to discuss your case and assess the potential defenses in your case in light of the facts. Our flat fee covers all appearances, motion work and more. There are no hidden fees and we will communicate with you at times. [I thought about touching on the payment plan, but you know what, let them call us to find out!]
Where Can I Go to Find Out More About DUI Defense?
[SCOTT ENGASSER – we need to populate this section with links to other blogs or to the blog page. Let’s talk.]
Call Us Today!
Call us today – we want to help [Or, Happy to Help, or something consistent!] Call us at (707) 571-8600.
We also cover all Bay Area Counties, including the north, so give us a call!