2 ways to defend against drug possession charges

Even if police accuse you of possessing only a small amount of drugs, the allegations are serious, and you could face significant punishments if the allegations result in a conviction. For this reason, North Carolina residents will want to do everything they can to defend against a drug possession charge if they can establish a viable defense strategy.

Here are two ways that defendants might choose to answer a charge of drug possession during their criminal court proceedings:

The arrest was the result of an unlawful search and seizure

The defense of unlawful search and seizure is a particularly powerful one when it applies to your circumstances. That’s because, if a defendant can show that an unlawful search and seizure occurred, he or she might be able to get the possession charges dropped.

Unlawful search and seizure is a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which requires the police to have a viable reason to stop a suspect, and a viable reason to search the subject. Without such a reason, the results of an unlawful search and seizure cannot form a legal basis for conviction.

The drugs were the property of another individual:

Sometimes those accused of drug possession were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. These individuals may have been accused of possessing drugs that belonged to someone else. This defense could work for certain defendants who can show in court that the drugs did not, in fact, belong to them.

If you’re facing inappropriate drug possession charges — even if it appears that the evidence is stacked against you — you might find a way to navigate your criminal process in a way that reduces the severity and/or punishments of your charges.