San Diego Drug Offense Defense Attorney
Drug convictions carry heavy consequences.
Being convicted of a drug crime can have a serious impact on your life. First of all, there are possible fines. Getting a driver’s license can suddenly become more difficult. And you can even be denied financial aid for college. You could also face prison time and have a criminal mark on your record permanently.
With your future at stake, you need an experienced San Diego drug offense attorney on your side. The Law Offices of Elliott N. Kanter can work with you to get your charges reduced or even get your case dismissed.
When is it a misdemeanor or a felony?
- Possessing marijuana: misdemeanor
If you’re caught with marijuana or drug related items (such as a bong), it’s usually a misdemeanor charge. Law enforcement officials have to prove you had possession of the drug at the time of arrest.
- Possessing hard drugs: felony
If you get caught with any drugs harder than marijuana, it becomes a felony. It must be proved that you were in control of the drug at the time of arrest.
- Selling drugs: felony
If it looks like you were intending to sell any drugs, including marijuana, the charges are immediately considered a felony. In addition, prosecutors have more tactics at their disposal. They can use taped conversations as evidence. If they find any items normally associated with drug sales, they can include them as the evidence. They may also use the testimony of people who report on suspicious activities such as excessive comings and going around your home.
- Trafficking drugs: felony
You can be charged with drug trafficking even if you are not directly transporting the drugs. Anything you do to help with a sale of drugs can be considered a felony charge of conspiracy or aiding.
- Manufacturing drugs: felony
Growing marijuana or using a lab to develop drugs can result in a felony charge.
Negotiating your case down.
Often for non-violent drug offenders, if you agree to a drug treatment program you can receive a penalty that does not appear as a felony on your record.
What an experienced San Diego drug offense attorney can do for you.
Having an experienced drug offense lawyer can make all the difference in your case. The Law Offices of Elliott N. Kanter will try to get your charges lowered or dismissed. Sometimes the correct procedures are not followed by law enforcement officials and we can use this to your advantage. The following conditions may help you in your case:
- Fourth Amendment violations
- Warrants issued without probable cause
- Wiretapping and other illegal surveillance
- Miranda Rights warnings omitted, abridged, or defied by police and prosecutors
- Statements and evidence illegally obtained or improperly allowed at trial
The first thing to do: give us a call.
There’s so much at stake when you are charged with a drug offense. So don’t hesitate to call the Law Offices of Elliott N. Kanter for at 619-330-5881 for a no-cost, no-obligation consultation today. Come in, tell us your side of the story, and together we’ll get started.