Being charged with a felony drug possession charge is scary and intimidating. You may be facing some serious time behind bars if you’re convicted. You may even be so despondent about your chances of avoiding a conviction that you’re contemplating pleading guilty and throwing yourself on the mercy of the court.
Wait. Take a deep breath and consider this: There are plenty of ways to overcome a felony drug charge and improve the outcome of your situation — but a guilty plea to the current charges isn’t one of them. Here are several defenses that can be offered:
Fourth Amendment violations
There are plenty of questionable searches that result in drug charges. You have a Constitutional right against illegal and unwarranted searches of your car, body and home. If there wasn’t a good reason to stop your car or search you for drugs, the evidence may be excluded.
Lack of knowledge
Are you totally mystified about how drugs got in your car? The drugs could easily have been placed there by one of your passengers at some point in the past. For that matter, there have even been incidents right here in Florida where a police officer has been caught planting drugs in someone’s car to make arrests and gain convictions. If you’re certain that the drugs aren’t yours, there are numerous possible explanations for how they got into your car.
Wrong identification
It’s entirely possible that the drugs found in your possession weren’t really drugs. Everything from powdered sugar to cotton candy has been misidentified as drugs by those cheap roadside tests police use.
Even when it isn’t possible to get a drug possession or trafficking charge dismissed, it’s often possible to negotiate a reduction in charges or an opportunity to go through a deferred adjudication program — but you’re unlikely to achieve those results on your own. Find out how an experienced drug charge attorney can protect your interests.
