A defendant who has been charged with felony possession of illegal substance hope for an outcome to the case that does not require a prison sentence. The best outcome would be the prosecuting attorney dropping charges or a judge dismissing the case. A Drug Crime Lawyer may be able to persuade a judge to do just that if there is a problem with the evidence.
Irregularities
A Drug Crime Lawyer looks for any irregularities in the search by law enforcement, the arrest and questioning process, and the chain of custody of the evidence. Police may have conducted an illegal search of a vehicle, for example. They may have left a piece of evidence in the car for several hours and had to go back and retrieve it later. That leaves a judge unsure whether anyone tampered with it.
Probable Cause
Once charges are pending, the prosecuting attorney must present the case before a judge or a grand jury, who then decide whether there is enough evidence to try the case in court. At this hearing, the prosecution is trying to establish probable cause that a jury will believe the defendant is guilty. If the judge or grand jury disagrees, the case is dismissed. In some instances, the prosecution team realizes they do not have enough evidence and drop the charges before the hearing.
Motion to Dismiss
If the case continues to move past this stage, the defense lawyer may still find a reason to petition the court with a pretrial motion to dismiss. For instance, if the prosecution team keeps delaying the trial because they don’t believe they can win and are searching for more evidence, a judge may dismiss the case. The reason for this dismissal would be the defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial.
If the defense lawyer from a firm like Addair Thurston Chtd. finds out about some type of misconduct by the prosecution, that may also be the reason for a judge to dismiss the case. In the prosecuting attorney’s quest to find better evidence, for instance, this attorney may resort to sending a staff member to listen in on a confidential discussion between the defense lawyer and client. You can also visit them on Facebook for more information.