If you’ve been charged with any kind of drug crime, it’s important to talk to a drug trafficking lawyer in Oklahoma City as soon as possible. The state of Oklahoma takes these charges very seriously, and the ramifications of a conviction will follow you through the rest of your life. You can potentially be charged for trafficking in marijuana even if the marijuana is found in someone else’s bag, depending on the circumstances. An experienced lawyer will defend you and give you the best shot at getting the charges dismissed or reduced.
Can You Be Charged for Trafficking if Marijuana Was Found in Someone Else’s Bag?
The short answer here is: maybe. It is possible that the police could charge you with trafficking based on marijuana found in another person’s bag, but the circumstances have to be just right. Here are some things to understand:
Trafficking Amounts
The first thing to know is that Oklahoma police can charge a person with trafficking based solely on the amount of marijuana that is found. They don’t actually need any evidence that you intended to sell the marijuana to bring this charge. If you have more than a certain amount, the charge is basically automatic.
If you have 25 pounds or more of marijuana (or any mixture or substance with a detectable amount of marijuana), that’s a trafficking charge right there. If you have more than 1,000 pounds, it’s an aggravated trafficking charge. Having these amounts close to a school, rec center, and a few other places can result in double the fines and penalties.
Types of Possession
There are two types of possession to worry about: actual and constructive. Actual possession is when you have the marijuana clearly on your person or in your possession. For example, if you’re driving your own car with no one else in it, and there’s a bag on the front seat with 28 pounds of marijuana in it, that would be considered actual possession. Constructive possession is a bit trickier. Constructive possession refers to you having “control” over the marijuana. It’s a lot harder to prove constructive possession definitively.
For example, if there’s a bag of marijuana in a home that you share with three other people, and you’re not actually carrying the bag at the time the police find it, you would have to be charged on the basis of constructive possession. This can be a lot harder to prove than actual possession; however, this is also how the prosecution may attempt to charge multiple people, even if the bag belongs to just one person. The prosecution may argue that even if the bag did technically belong to another person, you were aware that it was there, aware that it contained an illegal substance, and had control over it to participate in its distribution or sale.
Reasonable Doubt
Finally, it’s important to understand that, whatever charge is brought against you, the burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt whatever it is they’re charging you with. This is a very high bar, and you might find that your drug trafficking lawyer defends you not by trying to prove that you are innocent, but by poking holes in the prosecution’s story. This is often a much more effective means of defending you, because all that’s really necessary is to introduce reasonable doubt. Proving reasonable doubt is a lower bar than proving innocence.
Defenses Your Oklahoma City Drug Trafficking Lawyer May Use
You Didn’t Know It Was There
In some cases, your lawyer may feel that it is possible to show clearly that you did not know what was in the bag at all or perhaps even that the bag was there. This is easier to prove in some cases than others. For example, if you and your friend are both sitting in the front seat of your car with the bag between you, it’s hard to argue you didn’t know about it. But if the car was actually your friend’s car, and the bag was in the trunk, this might be a viable defense.
The Evidence Can’t Be Used At All
In some cases, your lawyer will defend you by trying to exclude the drugs themselves as evidence against you. This can happen for several reasons. For example, if the police had no warrant to search you, your property, or your vehicle and had no probable cause to believe a crime was being committed, then searching you or your property might have been illegal. If that’s the case, everything that was found in the course of the search may be excludable from the case. Without the drugs themselves as evidence, the entire case falls apart.
The Evidence Can’t Be Used In the Way the Prosecution Wants
Another way to challenge the evidence when you can’t have it excluded entirely is to challenge the weight, composition, or chain of custody on the drugs themselves. Your lawyer may be able to get an independent agency to weigh the marijuana, and if it falls below the 25-pound threshold, then your charges could be lowered from drug trafficking to intent to distribute or even just possession. Another thing your lawyer will likely do is require that the drugs be carefully tested to prove they are what the prosecution claims they are. If there has been a lapse in the chain of custody of those drugs from the moment the police got them, this could also be used in your defense.
A Plea Bargain or Other Charge Is Better
If the prosecution only has limited evidence, then your lawyer may point out how easy reasonable doubt will be to introduce and use this to negotiate a good plea bargain or to get a lower charge.
It Was Police Entrapment
This is fairly rare, but sometimes it is a useful defense. No agent of the government or law-enforcement is allowed to try to induce you to commit a crime that you would not otherwise have committed. This is called entrapment.
You Were Under Duress
Another viable defense could be if you were being pressured or threatened into involvement with the drugs when you did not want to be. It’s a person who actually owned the bag was threatening you personally or your family, your lawyer may be able to argue that you were coerced into involvement under arrest and are therefore not responsible.
Talk to a Lawyer As Soon as Possible
Whatever the situation, you must talk to an attorney as soon as you possibly can. Say nothing to the police except to tell them that you wish to talk to an attorney and that you do not want to answer questions without your attorney present. If they keep pressing you with questions or otherwise violate your rights, don’t react in anger or physically fight back. Stay calm and polite, and tell us all about it when we arrive. We can sometimes use police misconduct to help your case. Don’t assume that either the police or the prosecution have your best interests in mind if they offer you a plea deal. Always run any plea deal by your lawyer to make sure that it’s actually in your best interests.
If you’ve been charged with a drug crime, contact Cannon & Associates Law PLLC in Oklahoma City right away for help.