When a person is arrested on drug possession charges in California, more than anything, they want to know what their options are. Fortunately, in most cases, there are a substantial number of ways to fight the charges and minimize the damage, including contesting the evidence at a suppression hearing and requesting alternative punishments, such as drug treatment programs.
Even when a client is supposedly caught “red handed,” drug possession cases can be fought and won. That’s because the police and their investigators often make critical mistakes. For example, the police may have violated your Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure. Or they may have lied in order to get a warrant. Perhaps they relied on a questionable confidential informant. Another common mistake is when police arrest people for possession of drugs despite the fact that no evidence exists that the drugs belong to them.
Regardless of your situation, the important thing to remember is to relax and step back for a moment. You’re in a bind that could have life-long repercussions. The best thing you can do is to hire skilled legal counsel to aggressively contest the allegations of the police and district attorney’s office. If the police made any mistakes, we can identify them and use them to put pressure on the prosecution to drop the case or reduce the charges. We also frequently make use of the motion to suppress evidence–when successful, this frequently results in the entire case being dismissed at the suppression hearing.
If you have been arrested on drug possession charges, the police and prosecution are already building their case against you and they have substantial resources. However, with an aggressive attorney on your side, you can turn the situation around and come out clean.