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Your Rights And Your Drug Possession Defense

Your Rights And Your Drug Possession Defense Nearly 8 million people call Long Island home, and there are plenty of them who may end up facing a criminal charge at some point in their lives. Simple drug possession charges are among the most common, but they are also quite serious since New York still has some of the harshest drug laws in the entire country. 

A drug possession charge can change your life, leading to heavy fines or a jail sentence and also leaving a blemish on your criminal history that will influence everything from finding employment to securing a loan. As such, it’s important that you have a good criminal defense attorney on your side who can help stand up for your rights.

And those rights are a key part of many drug possession defense cases. While securing a not guilty verdict is usually the primary focus of a criminal defense, there are occasions where charges could be entirely dropped or thrown out of court due to various issues related to your rights. Each person in the country has a certain set of rights associated with their arrest and what happens after it, and if those rights are violated then criminal charges could be dismissed. Here are a few examples:

  • Illegal Search – If a police officer conducts a search of your person or your property illegally, there is a chance that your charges will be dismissed. 
  • Failure To Read Rights – It might sound like a cliché, but the fact remains that failure to be read your rights by the arresting officer could mean that the charges aren’t applicable anymore. 
  • Improper Stop – Most drug possession charges stem from a traffic stop. But if you were stopped without any probable cause, you might be able to have your charges dismissed entirely.

There are other reasons that a case could be thrown out as well, and the only way to determine what the best approach to your defense will be is to talk to a good lawyer. Your attorney will be able to review your case and figure out exactly what the best option for your defense might be. In some cases this could be to plead guilty to a lesser offense, but in many other instances it might mean asking for charges to be dropped entirely due to a violation of your rights.