People may face drug charges due to a variety of scenarios. Police officers who approach a private residence may be able to smell drugs inside the home. Other times, police officers may conduct sting operations that catch people in the process of transferring drugs to one another.
Police officers may arrest people for possession offenses if they find drugs in their immediate physical possession. Occasionally, police officers may find drugs that they cannot directly connect to one person. Maybe they search a shared apartment where there are three roommates and find drugs in a common area.
If everyone present denies ownership of the drugs, the situation could become quite complicated. State authorities may choose to bring charges against one of the people present or with a connection to the dwelling unit. How does the state justify a drug charge when a person didn’t have the drugs in their direct possession and did not admit to a crime?
Prosecutors can develop constructive possession claims
People who have drugs in their pockets or their backpacks have actual physical possession of those prohibited substances. If police officers search them and discover those drugs, they are likely to face charges.
In scenarios where police officers find drugs in an area where there are multiple others present or with access to the space, the legal case becomes much more complex. State prosecutors can bring charges, but they must establish credible allegations of constructive possession.
The term “constructive possession” refers to having knowledge of the drugs and control over what happens with them. The state courts have validated that constructive possession is adequate grounds for criminal prosecution related to contraband.
For example, if police officers search a private residence and find the drugs in a room that only one tenant has keys to open, the tenant with access is the party likely to face prosecution. When the state brings drug charges on the basis of constructive possession rather than actual possession, the defense strategy required to avoid a conviction may be substantially different.
Defendants facing serious drug charges and hoping to fight back may need help understanding why the state targeted them for enforcement and how to raise a reasonable doubt during a trial. With the right guidance, defendants can avoid convictions or negotiate plea bargains that reduce the long-term consequences of a pending drug charge.