Cobb County Marijuana Drug Crime Defense Lawyer
The marijuana legalization trend sweeping the nation hasn’t changed Georgia’s harsh laws in this area. Possession of less than an ounce, like a single mostly-smoked joint, could mean up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Possession of more than an ounce, like a dime bag, is a felony. But the legalization trend has changed some hearts and minds. Increasingly, Cobb County jurors see marijuana as a health and safety issue instead of a criminal law issue.
Since jurors are lenient, prosecutors are usually willing to offer better deals in these cases. But Andrew Schwartz, a tough-minded Cobb County marijuana drug crime defense lawyer, isn’t satisfied with just any plea bargain offer. Furthermore, he and his team never look for an easy way out. Instead, he and his team of legal professionals thoroughly prepare your case. Students who do their homework usually do well on tests, and lawyers who lay a solid foundation usually obtain good results.
Marijuana Possession
Drug possession cases account for over 80 percent of the drug arrests in Cobb County. For some reason, many officers believe these charges are easy to prove in court. If possession was synonymous with proximity, they’d be right. Georgia law broadly defines this P-word. For example, all vehicle passengers are proximate to all items in the passenger area, a zone that includes a car’s trunk and a pickup’s bed.
However in addition to proximity, the state must also prove control and knowledge. These elements are much harder to establish.
Let’s stay with the vehicle example. Assume Jerry is in the passenger side back seat when officers find marijuana in a locked glove box. Since he did not have the glove box key, he could not have possibly controlled that marijuana. Additionally, he may not have even known it was there, especially if he did not know the other people in the car very well.
Additionally, the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp, put up another obstacle. Hemp and marijuana look alike, smell alike, and are otherwise identical. Prosecutors must order an expensive, and often unreliable, THC content test to establish the difference beyond a reasonable doubt.
Distribution
The same chemical composition issue applies in marijuana distribution cases. These issues also plague marijuana cases in other states. For example, the Texas Department of Public Safety recently advised its officers to issue citations instead of making arrests in marijuana cases, since the charges most likely would not hold up in court.
Prosecutors rarely pursue individual drug distribution charges. Instead, they pressure these individuals to give up their sources. This pressure often involves a promise of leniency.
That promise makes these statements unreliable. Many people will say practically anything for love or money (leniency or a cash payment).
If a Cobb County marijuana drug crime defense lawyer proves the information was unreliable, any subsequently obtained evidence is inadmissible in court. Prosecutors cannot work backward. They cannot argue that if the information was accurate, it was also reliable. Accuracy and reliability are two different things.
Contact a Dedicated Cobb County Drug Crime Lawyer
Criminal cases have procedural and substantive defenses. For a free consultation with an experienced marijuana drug crime defense lawyer in Cobb County, contact Andrew L. Schwartz, P.C. Convenient payment plans are available.
