Los Angeles Criminal Lawyers Blog
When a person is arrested for a Drug charge in Southern California they could possibly face a conviction and jail time. Any drug charge on a person’s record could cause future issues with job and school applications. It is in the person’s best interest to do all that they can and utilize all available defenses to assure that the charge is reduced or dismissed.
Many of our clients are not guilty of the crime they are being charged with, and it is simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many of our clients inform us that the drugs that are found in their possession are not theirs, but a friend’s or an acquaintance.
For example, lets’ say that Dan and Frank go to the beach and Frank drives. Unbeknownst to Frank, Dan has brought marijuana in a bag and put it in Frank’s glove compartment. After the beach, Dan forgets to take his marijuana with him and leaves it in the car. A couple days later Frank gets pulled over for a routine traffic violation and when he reaches for his insurance, the bag of marijuana falls out and officers arrest him for possession of a controlled substance.
How does Frank prove that the marijuana is not his, and it was a friend’s? This is a difficult defense to argue, because it is difficult to present evidence that will make your argument strong. Frank must prove to prosecutor’s that he did not know the marijuana was in his car, and he must show that it wasn’t his.
In certain situations, a witness may be able to testify that will make the defense stronger. It may be that Dan is willing to testify that the marijuana was his and that Frank did not know that it was in the car. However, that would require that Dan be charged, and depending on how good of friends Dan and Frank are, it may not be an option.
In other situations there may be a third party that would be willing to testify. In the previous example, lets say that Tom was in the backseat. Tom had just met Frank and was a friend of Dan’s and saw Dan put the marijuana in the glove compartment. If Tom were to testify in Court that he saw Dan bring the marijuana into the car and put it in the glove compartment, and that Dan was known to smoke it might strengthen Frank’s defense .
The nature of the relationship the witness has with the person being charged will play a strong role. If the witness and the charged person are good friends, it may cast doubt on the credibility of the testimony and Prosecution will argue that it is weak evidence since it may be biased. In the hypothetical situation of Tom, the testimony may be somewhat stronger because Tom is testifying against his friend, on behalf of a person he does not know too well. A knowledgeable San Diego Drug Possession Lawyer will play up this aspect and present evidence that wills strongly support their defense.