How To Beat A Drug Crime Charge In Los Angeles
This is a question people are asking all over the place because some of these drug crime charges come with severe consequences. Depending on whether you just have simply possession charges versus possession for sales versus some trafficking offense or a conspiracy — that's going to dictate what type of punishment or penalty you're looking at. How to beat it has to do with the facts of your case.
One area that holds significant potential for successfully challenging a drug offense is proving that the police illegally stopped you.
This is a promising avenue for defense, as the police are not authorized to stop anyone without valid reasons. If they use physical force against individuals in a drug investigation without probable cause, the stop can be deemed illegal. In such cases, anything that follows from the stop can be suppressed and cannot be used against the person in question.
But once they start to use some physical force against people related to some drug investigation, if they don't have probable cause to do so, then that stop can end up being illegal, and anything that flows from the stop can be suppressed and won't be able to be used against that particular person.
So, that's one of the areas that we look at when we're trying to beat a drug charge in Los Angeles is whether the person was illegally stopped.
Illegal Search
Another big area that's ripe for defense in drug crime cases in Los Angeles is when somebody's vehicle is illegally searched, and this happens all the time.
All of a sudden, somebody's pulled over for just a regular traffic offense, and the next thing you know, somehow the police can search the whole vehicle, and this is where it starts to get tricky because the police know that the first thing a defense attorney is going to do, who knows what they're doing, is trying to claim that it's an illegal search of the vehicle, so they're going to start trying to justify how they were able to search the car.
A lot of times, they will use what's called the plain view doctrine, which says if they legally come up on a vehicle, maybe for a traffic offense, for example, and in plain view, they see something illegal — the butt of a gun, a bag of drugs — there's a whole list of things they can see. Now, they're going to be able to go in the car and get whatever they saw was illegal, and they're probably also going to search the vehicle.
Other ways that the police will take a routine simple traffic stop and make it into a full-blown drug investigation where they get to search is if they've got a situation where somebody gives them consent to search. It's not wise to give police consent and allow them to search your vehicle if you have something illegal.
It's crucial to understand your rights in such situations. You are not obligated to give the police consent to search your vehicle. If they request to search it, you have the right to refuse. This knowledge empowers you and puts you in control of the situation.
They would then need probable cause to search it and obtain a warrant, which they often cannot do unless they resort to unethical means and search the car anyway, claiming you gave them consent.
I've seen them many times after they illegally searched somebody's car. Now, they will try to make them sign something where they agree to the police searching the vehicle. Because if you agree to it, then that's it. They can do it and can use anything they find against you.
Reviewing the Facts and Circumstances
So, these are just a few ways to beat a drug charge in Los Angeles. There are many more ways, but they don't all apply everywhere. The key is that you have to look at the facts and circumstances surrounding a case, and from there, you'll be able to determine whether or not there's a good defense in your drug crime case.
A lot of times, it's just the facts of the case. That's why the first thing I do when somebody calls in with a drug charge pending against them in Los Angeles is sit down.
Under the attorney/client privilege, anything discussed cannot be used against you. This privilege allows us to strategize whether we have a defense to the crime or if a plea negotiation with the prosecutors is the best course of action. Our role is to guide you through this process and ensure the best possible outcome for your case.
So, please pick up the phone today so we can figure out whether you can beat your drug charge or whether it's a situation where we need to work out some resolution. Taking this step is crucial in understanding your options and moving forward with your case.
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