In this Google Hangout, San Diego criminal lawyer David Shapiro answers a number of online questions about drug crimes. Please post your own questions to the comments section below the video or visit him online at [ Ссылка ]
a) Rubin – I’ve been charged with drug possession for the first time. Cocaine but it wasn’t a lot. Can I avoid jail time?
b) Janet – How do the police decide what is possession, and what is possession with intent to distribute?
c) Marian – If an undercover officer tries to offer you drugs for sale and you haven’t asked, is that entrapment?
d) Jay – Can anyone smoke marijuana now that it’s legal?
e) Melissa – In what ways is a drug-related DUI different from an alcohol-related DUI, as far as penalty?
Law Office of David P. Shapiro
3500 5th Avenue, Suite 304,
San Diego, CA 92103
619-295- 3555
Transcription:
- We're with Dave Shapiro, David is a Criminal Defense Attorney in San Diego, California and he's agreed to answer some online questions that were posted. With that said, David, let's go into the first questions. These are all about drug crimes, by the way. So the first question was from Ruben. Ruben says, I've been charged with drug possession for the first time. Cocaine, but it wasn't a lot. Can I avoid jail time?
- Ruben, depending on your record, you probably will avoid jail time. If you don't have a record you might be eligible for a diversion program. You would, you know, ultimately enter a plea to the charge if it can be proven against you. You put off sentencing 18 months, you stay outta trouble, you complete an outpatient drug treatment program. The plea gets withdrawn, the case ultimately gets dismissed. That's known as a P.C. 1000 program. Even if, and maybe if you have a pretty lengthy criminal history, you know, you would technically be facing up to one year or 364 days in jail, if convicted. How realistic a jail time you'd get depends on the amount of drugs your prior criminal history, but generally for simple possession offences, you know, we're pretty successful and most attorneys are pretty successful trying to get you out of actual jail time. But nevertheless, you still want to make sure you leave no stone unturned in your defense because there are a lot of different programs and different options in defenses you might have.
- Okay, next question we have was from Janet. Janet says, how do the police decide what is possession and what is possession with intent to distribute?
- Well if it were up to police, I think they'd charge everybody with possession with intent to distribute. They tend to overcharge, or are a little cynical on what a user would use that over the course of a day or a week. But it's ultimately going to be up to, on the front end the police make the arrest, they may make their recommendation what they book people in jail on but it's ultimately going to be up to the prosecutor if they decide to file charges, and if they decide to file charges as a simple possession or possession with intent to sell or distribute. Laws in California have changed dramatically in the last couple of years. Not necessarily decriminalizing simple possession but reducing simple possession of cocaine and heroin from felonies to misdemeanors. Reducing simple possession of methamphetamine from a wobbler, a felony or a misdemeanor, to just a misdemeanor in almost all situations. What that has done, in one regard that's a good thing but on the flip side, it's increased the disparity in sentencing ranges between simple possession and possession for sale. If you're convicted of possession for sale, it's a non-reducible felony, that's a felony conviction that can never be reduced to a misdemeanor. It's also priorable, and would add three years onto any future possession for sale's case. So the tendency sometimes is to overcharge these cases, meaning where they'll charge it as possession for sale and it's become more difficult to actually work out a resolution for simple possession because the DA doesn't want to give up the felony. The DA doesn't want to give up the priorability that the felony charges would carry. But, if they're being unreasonable, if the facts don't support it, you know there's many things your attorney can do. They can take the matter to preliminary hearing, they could hire their own expert to sort of rebuff what the DA is saying. You know, some investigation as to what your drug habits may be, if you're using. And all those factors that go into it. And in all honesty, especially if you don't have a record, and the DA wants you to plea to what you're charged with, you may not have incentive to resolve a case. It may be in your best interest to fight on, even if you don't have the greatest defense in the world. Only an experienced defense attorney, well versed in the law, well versed and practiced, can be able to advise you on what's in your best interest in that regard.
