Drug Charges
Whatever your opinion… regarding the legalization of Marijuana by States throughout America…. and other recreational drugs that are used or abused by millions of Americans each day…. The government is spending huge amounts of money seeking out those involved with drugs and taking them to jail.
Along with these often violent arrests, Law Enforcement agencies across the country are seizing citizens’ money, vehicles and other assets when they are merely suspected of drug related activity.
With the money that is seized going towards the purchase of new police gear, nicely equipped new patrol cars, and state of the art tactical weapons, these law enforcement agents often have an incentive to make arrests that are not necessarily “by the book”.
And when the number of drug busts and seizures of money leads to promotions and higher paying positions in the police departments – police are often tempted to bend the rules and ignore citizens rights to privacy and protections against government interference that the law provides.
The Courts have recognized this danger for decades and have made statements recognizing and scolding law enforcement for illegal tactics.
As the U.S. Supreme Court wrote over 25 years ago …
”The framers of our Constitution intended to check the unchecked discretion of law enforcement officials and the ‘competitive enterprise’ of law enforcement.”
– California v. Acevedo, 500 US 565 (1991)
Fortunately, when skilled and persistent defense lawyers are able to catch law enforcement breaking the rules, the penalty is often that the evidence that was obtained illegally – is not allowed to be introduced in the case. And the verdict becomes Not Guilty. It’s simple. When good lawyers catch the government cheating they lose. Most drug cases are successfully defended this way.
Illegal Searches and Seizures that are most often discovered when investigating the Drug Cases that we defend include:
–Invalid Search Warrants
–Stops or Detentions not based on Reasonable Suspicion
–Anonymous tips that are not confirmed as reliable
–Unreasonably lengthy roadside detentions
–Coercive tactics to gain permission to search