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Fighting back against drug possession charges in Queens

On Behalf of | Oct 28, 2019 | Drug Crimes

Few events can change a person’s life as drastically as a drug possession conviction. Not only do people convicted of drug crimes face the immediate consequences of significant fines and potential prison time, they also may lose privileges and opportunities that many of us take for granted every day.

With a drug conviction on your record, you may find it is very difficult to get a job to pay for your life, as well as a place to live. Many employers and property managers who see a drug conviction disclosed on an application will simply move on to the next person applying. You may even find that getting a better education to improve your opportunities is also more difficult. Simply put, protecting your future requires building a strong legal defense as quickly as you can and using all the resources you have to fight these charges and protect your rights.

Why should you begin immediately?

Building an effective defense to drug charges is very difficult if you do not have the opportunity to review the evidence against you. In general, you do have the right to review this evidence, but there are a number of legal hoops you must jump through and you have only a short window of time to do so.

The sooner that you set about building your defense and requesting the evidence that prosecutors are using to build the case against you, the better your chances of success. Any amount of procrastination around building your defense only hurts you and makes it easier for the prosecution to get what they want — a conviction that makes them look good at their job.

The sooner you begin building your defense, the more time that you have to examine the circumstances and evidence for weaknesses that you can use to protect yourself.

Challenging the prosecution’s narrative

Prosecutors and police present their version of events as they work to secure convictions. To fight back against them, it is often useful to challenge their version of events wherever possible.

For instance, if officers entered your home for some reason and found allegedly illegal substances inside, you may face drug possession charges. However, with some careful examination, it is possible that the drugs found in your home do not belong to you, or prosecution cannot prove that the drugs belong to you. They may belong to someone else who left them in your home.

If an officer arrests you on charges of possession, you may demand that the substance undergo laboratory testing. In order for the prosecution to send the evidence for testing, they must physically produce the evidence. If you get lucky, police or prosecutors may have misfiled the evidence and it is not available for testing. This weakens their case against you.

Similarly, testing may not return results that match your charges. In some instances, police may have misidentified a substance entirely, and the prosecution’s case falls apart.

Begin protecting your rights today

These are only some of the many ways to protect yourself against drug charges. However, none of these tools or others like them can help you until you begin the defense-building process. Make your future a priority today and begin building a defense with all the resources and guidance you need to keep your rights secure.

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