Common Defenses Against Drug Crimes

2 years ago by Brian

Being arrested and charged with a drug crime is a terrifying situation, even for those who have been arrested before on the same offense. A drug-related conviction in Minnesota comes with the possibility of jail time and other serious consequences.

At JS Defense, we understand this and are prepared to help those who have been arrested and charged with a drug crime to mount a successful defense against any drug crime or other charges they face.

Common Defenses in Mounting a Successful Drug Crime Defense

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects everyone in the country against unauthorized searches and seizures. A search is authorized if the police officer doing the search has first obtained a search warrant or if the illegal item seized from you was in plain view. 

For example, if a police officer stops you for failing to stop at a traffic sign or signal, and there are drugs on the passenger seat that the officer can readily see without opening or touching anything, those drugs can be seized and used as evidence against you. 

If the drugs are in the glove compartment or trunk and the officer opens either one to find them without a search warrant, an experienced drug crimes lawyer can successfully make the case that this was an unlawful search and seizure.

Your case will be dismissed if it is shown that your Fourth Amendment rights were violated.

Not in Possession

Possession of drugs is a common crime charged, and a common defense for this charge is the person charged saying they were not in possession of the drugs as charged.

What makes a possession charge easy to mount this defense is one does not have to physically have the drugs in their hands or on their body to be charged with the offense.

What the law requires is for the prosecutor to show that you had control over the drugs.

For example, if police enter a private home and find drugs on the table, every individual in that room could be charged with possession. A skilled Woodbury, MN drug crimes lawyer will try and make the case you did not have control of or access to the drugs.

Entrapment

Another common defense to drug crimes is entrapment. The law allows law enforcement officers to set up sting operations or go undercover to obtain information.

Entrapment happens when officers or informants induce their target to commit a crime he or she otherwise would not have committed. The line between an individual doing something they were planning to do and doing something they were induced to do is very thin. 

For this reason, entrapment is a possible defense in cases where police or law enforcement used some type of sting operation or arrested someone as the result of undercover activities in which the person was induced to commit the crime.

This happens all the time, but an experienced drug crimes lawyer knows how to make an effective argument for acquittal based on an entrapment defense.

Seek Help from a Woodbury, MN Drug Crimes Defense Lawyer

If you have been charged with a drug crime near Woodbury, MN, contact our office today for a free case evaluation. We can begin building your defense as soon as possible against your drug charges.