3 Ways You Might Be Able To Avoid Conviction After Being Charged With A Drug Offense

If you recently ended up in handcuffs because the police found you in possession of illegal drugs, you're obviously not having the best week of your life. That said, you should keep your head up. Being charged with a crime is not the same as being convicted of a crime and depending on the circumstances, you might be able to avoid conviction. Here are three strategies for fighting a drug offense in court.

The Police Didn't Have the Right to Search

Did you get arrested after the police found something in your vehicle or inside your home? The million dollar question is, did the cops have permission to legally search? This is usually obtained with a court-issued warrant or through verbal permission from the suspect. But if you told the cops you didn't want them to search, and they did not have a warrant, it might be possible to get any evidence they found thrown out of court. If there are no drugs in play, it will be extremely hard for the prosecution to get a conviction. 

The Drugs Were Not Yours

Did you and all of your friends get busted after the police pulled your car over? All hope might not be lost if the cops are not sure which person in the car actually owned the drugs. In some cases, the cops might even charge all of the people in the car or at least detain them to try and get someone to start talking. Instead of talking to the cops, contact a drug crime lawyer. A good attorney will be able to pressure the police into providing evidence as to who the drugs actually belonged to. If they can't do that, you might be able to walk free.

No Lab Analysis (Or Faulty Analysis)

Just because something looks like cocaine doesn't mean that it is. If you find out the cops never sent the evidence to a crime lab for analysis and confirmation prior the evidence becoming contaminated, you might be in luck. A good drug crime lawyer will also be able to question the drug lab about their procedures and look for ways to discredit the lab results.

Beating a drug charge is no easy task but you'll at least having a fighting chance if you have a decent drug crime lawyer on your side. If you find yourself about to be arrested on drug charges, don't speak to anyone or give permission for further searches without speaking to an attorney first.