If you’re facing drug charges in New Jersey, you may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next. Convictions for drug offenses come with severe penalties, and you risk having to pay large fines or even do time in prison. A compelling drug charge defense can help you pursue a favorable resolution to your prosecution, whether by securing a plea deal, a reduction or dismissal of your charges, or a not guilty verdict at trial. An experienced defense attorney for drug charges can help you build a solid strategy for your case.
Common Drug Charges
In New Jersey, a person may face prosecution for various kinds of drug-related crimes. Some of the most common examples of drug charges include:
- Simple possession – A person may commit criminal possession of drugs when they possess drugs for their personal consumption.
- Possession of paraphernalia – Even just possessing drug paraphernalia, such as a pipe, can result in criminal charges.
- Possession with intent to distribute – More serious charges involve possessing drugs with the intent to distribute or sell them. Intent to distribute could be established through factors such as possessing large quantities of drugs, drugs packaged for individual sale, or packaging equipment.
- Drug trafficking – It’s a crime to transport drugs, such as moving drugs between a supplier or distributor. Drug trafficking that occurs across state or national borders can trigger federal criminal charges.
- Drug manufacturing – Individuals and criminal organizations involved in manufacturing drugs may face serious criminal charges.
- Prescription fraud – This may involve forging a prescription, stealing a prescription pad, or lying to obtain a prescription medication.
What You Can Do to Build a Strong Drug Charge Defense
A comprehensive defense strategy is one of the best ways to fight drug charges. However, building such a strategy requires thorough preparation. Here are some common elements of creating a compelling drug charge defense strategy.
Understand the Charges and Your Rights
Preparing a strong defense strategy in a drug case begins with understanding your charges. A skilled criminal defense attorney can help you understand each element of your charges, including what the prosecution must prove to secure a conviction. For example, the prosecution may have to establish that you acted with criminal intent. Knowing what the prosecution must prove to obtain a conviction can help you identify potential defense strategies.
Understanding your rights in the criminal justice system can also help you prepare and pursue an effective defense strategy. As a defendant, you have the right to remain silent. You do not have to speak to the police or answer questions about your charges. The prosecution also cannot require you to take the stand at trial. You have sole discretion whether to testify. However, if you choose to testify, the prosecution can cross-examine you.
You also have the right to legal counsel at each stage of your case. You can hire a criminal defense attorney to assist you with preparing and pursuing a defense strategy and to advocate for you in court hearings and at trial.
Question the Legality of a Search
One of the most common defense strategies pursued in drug cases includes challenging the legality of a police search. Drug charges typically arise when the police search a person, their vehicle, or their home and discover illegal drugs. However, the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches, requiring a warrant unless certain exceptions apply. If the police cannot support an exception, a search without a valid warrant is illegal and violates your rights.
Even when a search occurs with a warrant, you may argue that the police who conducted the search obtained the warrant through some misconduct. For example, you may argue that the police misrepresented or omitted facts in their affidavit supporting the search warrant application.
When the court finds that an unlawful search occurred, it may remedy the violation of the defendant’s rights by ordering that evidence obtained through that search be excluded from the trial. Without proof of the existence of illegal drugs, the prosecution cannot pursue its case.
Dispute Possession
For a conviction of illegal drug possession, the prosecution must prove that you knowingly possessed the controlled substance. You could make an argument that the drugs weren’t in your possession or that you didn’t know. For instance, maybe you were driving with other people and weren’t aware they had drugs in the car. Or maybe your roommates had drugs in the home that you didn’t know about.
Debate Chain of Custody
There are very particular rules on how evidence should be handled in a criminal case. There must be a clear chain of custody showing who possessed the evidence at any point, from collecting it to presenting it in court.
Raising a chain of custody issue may allow you to make various arguments undermining the validity or reliability of the prosecution’s evidence. For example, you may argue that a break in the chain of custody could mean that investigators switched out or contaminated the evidence. Or you could argue that investigators mistakenly swapped the evidence in one case with evidence from another.
Suggest Insufficient Evidence
The prosecution must prove each element of your charges beyond a reasonable doubt. A trial strategy may simply involve arguing to the jury that the prosecution’s case lacks sufficient evidence to meet that standard. Trial courts will instruct juries that if the prosecution’s case leaves them with reasonable doubt about the defendant’s guilt, they must vote to acquit.
Use Legal Prescription Defense
In drug cases involving prescription drugs, you may present evidence of your valid prescription for the medication.
Establish a Lack of Intent
Some drug charges require the prosecution to prove that you had an intent to sell or distribute the drugs. If you can support that the drugs were for your own personal use, the charges may be reduced to simple possession.
Challenge the Lab Testing
Sometimes, prosecutors may conduct laboratory testing to confirm the identity of the substance. You may challenge the reliability of the results by highlighting issues with testing protocols or identifying breaks in the chain of custody.
Argue Entrapment by Law Enforcement
An entrapment defense argues that you would not have committed the charged crime but for the encouragement or coercion of the police. However, presenting successful entrapment defenses can be challenging. You must show that you wouldn’t have committed the crime before the police encouraged or drove you to do so.
Plea Deal vs. a Trial for Drug Charges
Defense strategies may vary between pursuing a favorable plea deal and preparing to fight drug charges at trial. When the prosecution has overwhelming evidence that makes a conviction at trial highly likely, defendants and their legal counsel may focus their legal strategy on negotiating a favorable plea deal. However, they may want to take their case to trial if they believe they can build a solid defense against the prosecution’s case. Depending on which route they choose, the defense strategy could vary significantly.
Plea Deal Defense Strategies
Defense strategies focused on obtaining a plea deal may try to weaken the prosecution’s case by excluding certain pieces of evidence or highlighting the potential unreliability of other evidence or witnesses. Identifying weaknesses in the prosecution’s case may raise doubt in the prosecutors’ minds about their ability to secure a conviction at trial, making them more likely to agree to a favorable plea deal.
Trial Defense Strategies
A defense strategy focused on trial will highlight issues in the prosecution’s case. The prosecution bears the burden to prove every element of a drug charge beyond a reasonable doubt. A defendant’s case strategy may involve raising reasonable doubts in the mind of the jury or judge as to whether they committed each element of the offense.
A trial strategy may also involve presenting defenses to convince the jury that the defendant did not commit the charged drug crime. For example, they may try to prove that another person committed the offense or that they never possessed the alleged drugs.
Talk to One of Our New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorneys
After getting arrested and charged with drug offenses in New Jersey, you need experienced legal representation. Drug charges shouldn’t be taken lightly. You are likely facing serious, long-lasting consequences. That’s why you need someone who can build a solid defense against your charges.
Contact the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall for a free, confidential consultation with a defense attorney for drug charges. Our firm has over 200 years of combined legal experience in pursuing optimal results for clients facing criminal charges. We work tirelessly to provide unparalleled service to our clients. As one client noted of our work:
“I hired Jonathan to defend a cocaine possession offense. This was not the first time for me and drug charges. He did a brilliant job challenging the motor vehicle stop and search of my car. The result was my avoiding a felony conviction for possession of cocaine. I now can move ahead with my future without a felony drug offense on my record. Jonathan is a committed attorney who invests his time and knowledge. He was worth every penny.” – Cassie
Talk to us today about how we can help you build a compelling defense strategy to seek a favorable resolution to your case.
