New York Drug Possession Lawyer

Drug possession is a serious crime with equally serious consequences. With possession charges, you could potentially be looking at a felony offense, which is why it is important to hire a lawyer.

A well-versed drug attorney can determine whether the seizure was proper or not and if the search was improper, the attorney can incorporate it into your defense. A New York drug possession lawyer can devote the time and resources necessary to build a solid case for you.

Defining Drug Possession

Many people do not know what actually constitutes possession. A person can possess a drug physically on their person, or they can constructively possess it, or there can be a legal presumption. To possess a drug can means that is it in someone’s hand.

Routinely, the police will arrest more people when there are some people sharing cocaine or sharing marijuana where they say, “Person A handed it to Person B who handed it to Person C. This means everyone is possessed. Therefore, everyone is charged with it.” The police will say that everyone possessed it when the person was just there. By their sheer presence, they are assuming the person possessed it.

Constructive Possession

Possession is literal and physical. It can be constructive in an area that a person has control over or there could be a legal presumption setting that possession even though it was not on a person’s person.

Constructive possession can mean, for example, if a person is in a car and parking it or is somewhere else, and it is open, and it is right in front of the person, or it is within a reachable area, that could constitute constructive possession because it is an area the person has control of.

If the car is registered to a defendant and there are drugs in the console, or on the seat, or whether or not the car was registered to somebody else, whether there is a passenger in the car, and they say that the person possesses it, the law allows for a legal presumption but everyone within possession is open to view. That is something that can be challenged by a New York drug possession lawyer.

Scenarios Where Someone is Found Possessing Drugs

The person will be found because they are smoking it, snorting it, shooting it, if there are pills or tabs, they have it in their hands or sharing it. At concerts, for example, when people come up, they go to security and security stops those people.

If an officer asks, what is in a person’s sock and they are sitting outside, and in undercover same-clothed police officers who take that person in custody, or they drive in unmarked cars and in taxi cabs and see people using drugs on the street, and they stop the car and they stop crimes. Officers will stop people, based on the type of car, the license plate, how someone looks, how they are interacting with others, and then they search them.

The police are proactive in their pursuit of those possessing drugs and they stop and search random people. However, there are constitutional issues having to do with unlawful search and seizure, that can come into play. A knowledgeable New York drug possession lawyer will know how to incorporate those constitutional issues into a client’s defense

Importance of a Knowledgeable Attorney

An attorney’s inexperience with drug charges can hurt someone who is accused of this crime’s case. If convicted of a drug crime, it can affect your ability to do things like vote, find employment, and legally possess a firearm. An attorney with experience and knowledge can be a great asset to your case.

An accomplished New York drug possession lawyer can help you because they will know which questions to ask, know how crimes are investigated and will have knowledge of some police tactics. Furthermore, a qualified attorney will be able to skillfully build your case.