What Are Effective Strategies Against Drug-Related Accusations?

Drug-related accusations can be very intimidating to face, but with an experienced drug crimes attorney helping you, you’ll find there are effective criminal defense strategies that can protect your rights and give you a clear path forward.

Common Criminal Defense Strategies

Improper Search and Seizure

If the police didn’t do things right when they searched you or your property, your lawyer can file a motion to suppress any evidence they found. The police must have had:

• Your permission to search
• A valid warrant
• Probable cause that a crime had been committed

If they didn’t have at least one of those three things, then their search wasn’t legal, and, in practice, this often means the entire case collapses because prosecutors lose the drugs, paraphernalia, or statements that they planned to use against you. Your lawyer will dig into the timeline and force the state to prove that every step they took was lawful.

Challenges to the Evidence

Forensic labs have protocols they must follow for handling, testing, and storing drug evidence. But they make mistakes, as we all do, and if they do, your lawyer can use this. Sometimes samples get mislabeled, something gets contaminated, or calibration records are off.

Your lawyer can challenge the reliability of the testing process itself sometimes, too, and if the state cannot prove the substance they’re using against you in court was the exact drug they say they took from you, and show that it remained in an unbroken chain of evidence from seizure to analysis, there’s room for reasonable doubt.

Questions About Possession

Many accusations rest on the claim that you “controlled” the drugs. But if the police found the drugs in a shared car, house, or backpack, that’s not enough just to claim. The prosecutor has to actually show that you knew the drugs were there and had the power to exercise control over them.

Diversion and Negotiation

If the facts are locked down and can’t be contested, then your lawyer may be able to defend you by negotiating on your behalf. For example, you might be eligible for a diversion program. If you are, and if you successfully complete it, you could keep a conviction off your record entirely.

Plea negotiations could also help. Prosecutors in our state have plenty to do and limited lab resources. When your lawyer presents strong arguments that show it won’t be simple and easy for them to prove the charge they’re bringing, the state often agrees to reduce the charges or recommend probation instead of prison.

Calling in Experts

An experienced lawyer knows which expert witnesses to call in. Toxicologists, for example, can explain how field tests sometimes produce false positives or how prescription medications can interfere with your drug screening. Medical professionals can testify that you had a legitimate prescription or that the quantity involved was consistent with personal use.

Talk to a Drug Crimes Attorney Now

If you are facing drug-related accusations, contact us at Davis, Chapman, & Wilder in Augusta, GA now. The sooner we get started on your case, the more likely it is we can get a good result for your defense.

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