There are chances of the police making a mistake during a drug possession arrest. If you think they have made a mistake during your arrest, you need to get a criminal defense attorney on board. Here are the most common mistakes that the police make during drug possession arrests:
1. Incorrectly Identify Drug Type
If the arresting police officer made a mistake identifying the drug type without checking to see if it is really the drug they think it is, you have a case against them. The drug they think is an illegal substance may merely be an over-the-counter pain killer.
Your criminal defense lawyer will request that the evidence they collected should be sent to the crime lab for evaluation. If the results come back as the drug they found on you to be legal or prescription medication, they will dismiss your charge.
2. Perform an Illegal Search and Seizure
If the police performed an unlawful search and seizure, your attorney will ask you several questions revolving around the situation and the events that led the police to arrest you. Your lawyer is looking for signs that the arresting police officer did not comply with the search protocols.
For instance, the police may be in the wrong if they pulled you over and looked through your trunk without your permission or used forceful tactics to do so. They can take anything like drugs that are in plain view of them but cannot use anything else they found as evidence through unlawful search and seizure against you.
3. Pressurize into Partaking in a Crime
If the police officer pressurizes you into partaking in a crime, that is known as entrapment. Even though the police officer can use this strategy on a person they know would commit this crime, it is unlawful for them to use it on a person who would not have committed that crime otherwise.
Therefore, you need to have a criminal defense lawyer by your side to help you make that distinction. Your lawyer can tell the court that you have not committed the crime like that in your past and how the arresting officer lured you into committing it.
4. Lose Drug Evidence
If your case has gone to trial, your attorney may ask the prosecutor to provide them with drug evidence. They will ask them to present the exact drugs to court that led to the arrest of their client. Sometimes, the drugs that are taken from a person can get lost. If the evidence against is lost, there is a chance that your lawyer can get you off the hook for the crime you have been accused of committing.
If you want to make a successful case in court, you need a criminal defense attorney with vast experience in dealing with cases like these where the arresting officer has made a mistake during the arrest.