Drug Crime Lawyer
in Dayton, Ohio

Schedule I substances are considered the most dangerous drugs in Ohio. They have the highest potential for abuse and addiction, and they serve no medicinal purposes. Drugs in this schedule include heroin, LSD, MDMA, psilocybin, and bath salts.

Schedule II drugs also have a high risk of addiction and abuse, but they may have certain limited medicinal uses. They include cocaine, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, and morphine.

Schedule III drugs have legitimately recognized medicinal applications, although they present a small risk of abuse and addiction. Drugs in this schedule include ketamine, anabolic steroids, lysergic acid, and testosterone.

The substances in Schedule IV have a lower potential for addiction and abuse and are frequently used to address medical conditions. They include alprazolam (Xanax), barbital, zolpidem (Ambien), and diazepam (Valium).

The drugs found in Schedule V have the lowest potential and incidence rate of abuse out of all the controlled substances. They’re used extensively to treat a wide range of medical conditions and may contain products that use small amounts of narcotics found on lower schedules.

Some evidence will generally be available no matter what drug crimes prosecutors allege, such as:

• Photos and videos
• Controlled substances allegedly found in your possession
• Information recovered from your phone, such as call records, texts, and voicemails
• Witness testimony, including police officer testimony, about what they observed
• Alleged co-conspirator testimony
• Wiretapped calls
• Confessions

The exact use of this evidence will depend on your charges. Dayton drug crime lawyers from our firm can fight against the admissibility and relevance of the evidence used against you.

Drug trafficking includes acts involving the transportation and sale of controlled substances. Depending on the magnitude of a drug bust in Dayton, Ohio, some evidence you may see in these cases can include:

• Scales
• Baggies
• Large amounts of cash
• Drugs recovered from mailed packages
• GPS information recovered from your phone

Your drug crime attorney can also challenge drug charges for trafficking by showing the absence of this evidence or providing alternative explanations that do not involve drug crimes.

Manufacturing and cultivation can violate Ohio drug laws even if the drugs are purely for personal use. Evidence used to prove these drug crimes includes:

• Photos of production facilities
• Testimony from witnesses who worked in the facility
• Chemicals and equipment used in manufacturing or growing

Ohio law enforcement officials and the federal government devote extensive resources to investigating and shutting down large-scale drug manufacturing and drug cultivation operations. As a result, the evidence may be substantial. However, our Dayton drug crime lawyers stand up to the full might of the government to fight drug charges.

The Fourth Amendment protects U.S. citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. If the police violate your rights while searching and seizing evidence, your attorney can fight to have that evidence thrown out.

Some ways in which the police unlawfully search and seize include:

• Executing traffic stops without probable cause
• Searching homes or vehicles without a warrant or other valid authority
• Exceeding the scope of a search warrant

If your attorney manages to get key evidence thrown out, your case will likely be dismissed.

Entrapment occurs when the authorities design a criminal plan and convince or coerce someone to carry it out. This could be an individual who would not otherwise be engaged in the criminal plan. For example, if a police officer convinces someone to sell cocaine, and that person presumably wouldn’t have done so otherwise, they can use entrapment as a defense.

Prosecutors often use constructive possession to build cases. Constructive drug possession is when the drugs aren’t on the defendant’s person but somewhere under their direct dominion and control, such as a locker or a storage unit.

If someone else’s drugs end up in your locker or the trunk of your car, your defense attorney may be able to argue that you didn’t “possess” the drugs because you didn’t know they were there. However, if you knew they were in your locker and allowed them to remain, you may still face a possession charge, even if the drugs aren’t yours.

Medical marijuana is legal in Ohio, yet residents still find themselves facing criminal possession charges when they’ve followed all state medical marijuana rules. When this occurs, your attorney will present proof of your right to consume marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Prescription drugs are legal, but this fact also doesn’t prevent some users from facing criminal charges. If you have a legal prescription, your attorney will present evidence of your right to possess and use the drugs in question.

The statute that controls drug possession in Ohio specifies that you must knowingly possess a drug to be charged with its possession. In other words, if you didn’t know the drugs were there, how can you possess them?

Of course, if the drugs are found in your pocket, the defense options are limited. That said, if you share a storage space with friends, the drugs found there could belong to one of them.

It’s imperative that the chain of custody of evidence be preserved in criminal cases. Your attorney will meticulously review the evidence practices used to gather and process the seized drugs. Any issues they find could lead to the evidence being excluded.

The arraignment occurs at your first court appearance. This is when the judge informs you of the drug charges against you. If you hire drug crime lawyers, they will appear at the arraignment, and you will enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. Otherwise, the judge will give you time to find legal counsel and delay the plea, if you request it.

The judge may also hold a bail hearing. The bail hearing will determine whether you get released from jail so you can work with your Dayton drug crime lawyers to prepare your legal defense.

Before trial, lawyers for both sides will attend hearings to inform the judge of the progress of the case. The judge will set the schedule for any trial based on these hearings.

For example, a skilled criminal defense attorney will often work with prosecutors to explore the possibility of a plea agreement or dismissal. If your drug crime lawyers can reach an agreement for lesser charges, you might consider accepting the deal instead of risking a trial.

Pretrial motions determine what will or will not be presented to a jury. Some examples of motions that your Dayton drug crime lawyers might file include:

• Motions to suppress evidence from an illegal search
• Motions to exclude evidence that is irrelevant or unduly prejudicial
• Motions to disqualify the prosecution’s expert witnesses

The judge will apply the rules of evidence to decide these motions and determine what the lawyers can present at your drug crimes trial.

You have the right to request a trial by jury. Most people facing Ohio drug charges choose a jury trial over a bench trial, relying on the sympathies of ordinary citizens. If you choose a jury trial for your drug-involved offenses, you and your lawyer will usually participate in jury selection.

A drug bust in Dayton, Ohio, today might make the news, leading potential jurors to have preconceived ideas of your guilt or innocence. Jury selection is meant to ensure you receive a fair and impartial jury panel. Lawyers for both sides can question potential jurors to identify possible biases so that you can exclude people who have already made up their minds.

After a Dayton drug bust, prosecutors have the burden of persuasion. They must establish that you committed every element of the drug crimes charged. If their case misses any element, the associated drug crime can be dismissed. Alternatively, your attorney for drug charges can ask the trier of fact to acquit you of any drug crime the prosecution failed to fully prove.

Whether you face a violation of Ohio drug laws or a federal drug crime, prosecutors must persuade the trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, if the trier of fact has any doubt based on real facts, as opposed to speculation, that trier of fact can acquit you of the charges.

Our job as your Dayton drug crime defense attorneys is to raise reasonable doubt.

You do not need to present evidence at your trial. Since you are innocent until proven guilty under the U.S. criminal justice system, you can simply rely on the prosecution’s failure to prove your case.

However, a lawyer for drug cases may advise you to present defenses in your case, such as mistaken identity, lack of intent, or other facts that counter the prosecution’s story. For example, a drug case lawyer might tell you to talk about evidence that the police mishandled the alleged drug involved in your case, tainting it so that it could not be tested.

You can also testify in your defense case, but you should discuss the pros and cons of testifying with your criminal defense firm. Good lawyers for drug charges will often tell you that your testimony can open you up to cross-examination by the prosecution.

The trier of fact will render a verdict finding you either guilty or not guilty of the drug crimes charged. If you choose a jury trial, the jurors must vote unanimously to find you guilty. Any juror harboring a reasonable doubt about the case against you can vote to acquit you.

If all the jurors vote not guilty, you are acquitted and cannot face the same charges under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. If only some of the jurors vote not guilty, you have a hung jury and may be tried again in the criminal justice system.

If you get convicted of a drug offense, the judge will set a sentencing hearing. Before your sentencing, the lawyers for both sides will submit to the judge information about aggravating and mitigating factors. Sentencing for Ohio drug crimes takes many factors into account, including:

• The drug involved
• The amount of drugs involved
• Your prior criminal history

Aggravating factors might include where the drug offense occurred and whether a weapon was involved. Mitigating factors might include a small amount of drugs and a lack of a criminal record.

If the judge made legal errors in your case, a drug offenses attorney can appeal the decision. For example, if the judge allowed the prosecution to present illegally obtained evidence against you, an appeals court can reverse your conviction and order a new trial.

Generally, a drug lawyer can only challenge errors in legal proceedings. A drug attorney cannot challenge how the jury weighs the evidence against you.