If you’re facing drug charges, then you might be worried about how the evidence against you seems insurmountable. This is a valid concern. After all, with strong evidence supporting them, prosecutors are often able to obtain a conviction and impose harsh penalties. However, simply because the case against you looks strong doesn’t mean that you don’t have criminal defense options. In fact, you might have strong evidentiary foundations upon which to build your case, which could lead to lesser penalties or even dismissed charges or an acquittal.
How to suppress evidence
One of the best criminal defense options that may be available to you is evidence suppression. Here, you make legal arguments that convince a judge that evidence that is to be presented against you is tainted in some way, thereby rendering inadmissible at trial.
There are a number of ways to suppress evidence, too. Let’s look at some of them:
- Illegal search and seizure: This is perhaps the biggest area where suppression occurs. Generally speaking, law enforcement is required to obtain a warrant before they can search you, your house, or your car. While there are some exceptions to the warrant requirement, they are rather narrowly construed. Therefore, ask yourself if the evidence being used against you was obtained illegally. This frequently occurs during traffic stops that were illegally initiated. This tainted evidence is oftentimes referred to as fruit of the poisonous tree.
- Chain of custody issues: Evidence must be collected and maintained in a way that preserves its integrity. Far too often, though, law enforcement officers and other evidence handlers make errors that draw the reliability of evidence into question. So, here, it might be helpful to assess the chain of custody to see if you can identify any errors.
- Failure to appear for depositions: The prosecution will base much of its case on witness testimony. You need to know what those witnesses are going to say on the stand so that you can better prepare your criminal defense. Perhaps the best way to do that is to conduct a deposition, where sworn testimony is given outside of court as a way to learn what a witness knows and lock his or her testimony in. If a witness fails to show up for depositions, though, despite being subpoenaed for them, then you may be able to exclude their testimony from trial. After all, allowing it at that point would be unfair to you.
These are just a few of the ways in which prosecutorial evidence can be challenged. It’s worth noting that there are a number of other evidentiary tactics that you can utilize to try to block the prosecution’s evidence, such as by objecting to hearsay, improper authentication, and speculation. However, you need to know the law and how to use it to your advantage if you hope to successfully attack the prosecution’s case.
Have a strong legal advocate on your side
We know that facing criminal charges can be enormously stressful, and you might find yourself worried about what the future has in store for you. But you shouldn’t despair. Instead, try to focus that energy on building the strongest criminal defense possible under the circumstances. That probably means working closely with a skilled criminal defense team, like the one at our firm. We take pride in our ability to build compelling defense strategies, as time and again we have achieved positive results for our clients. So, if you want an aggressive legal advocate on your side, then we encourage you to continue to research our firm to discover what we have to offer.
