Drug / Narcotic Charges A GOOD LAWYER MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Our New York and Westchester Criminal Defense Lawyers have extensive experience in handling the criminal defense of drug charges including both misdemeanors and felonies in the New York Metropolitan area including the New York City Courts (Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan) and Westchester including the Criminal Courts of White Plains, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Yonkers, Scarsdale, Valhalla, Greenburgh, Mount Kisco, Rye, Port Chester and Armonk. So whether you are a casual user, someone struggling with addiction or sold drugs, if you were arrested and are facing a drug charge in New York, our criminal defense attorneys can get you through this with the best possible outcome and minimize the impact of the criminal charges on your life.
As New York and Westchester Criminal Defense Attorneys, we provide aggressive representation of drug and narcotic charges. Drug charges range from basic misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance to felony-level drug possession based upon the weight or amounts of the drug possessed and sale of controlled substance. Whether you have a first time pot arrest or were caught with oxycodone, heroin or crystal meth, our drug defense lawyers have the experience to get you a good outcome.
FIGHTING THE CASE
Since drug charges require knowing possession of drugs, the cases which are the most defensible are where drugs were found on one person in a group, or in a car occupied by multiple people and everyone is arrested and charged. One of the most common defenses is lack of knowledge or possession. Often when the police find drugs in a car or an apartment, they will arrest everyone in the car or who was present in the apartment, if no one admits that the drugs were theirs. However, merely being in a car or other location where there are drugs is not a crime, so long as the drugs are not out in the open. To convict someone of possession of drugs, the prosecutor must prove you knew the drugs were there. These cases can be defended by testimony that the defendant knew nothing about the drugs.
Another common defense, that our New York City and Westchester criminal defense attorneys have utilized is challenging the underlying search, during which the drugs were found, as unconstitutional. This means that if a Court agrees that there wasn't probable cause for a police officer to perform a search, then, the drugs will likely be suppressed and the charges dismissed. Search and seizure issues are common and each case requires an extensive analysis of the underlying facts. Since most drugs are found as a result of a search, issues regarding the validity of search warrants must be thoroughly investigated. Also stop and frisk seizures often implicate constitutional challenges, as do searches based on traffic stops. So if a case has to be litigated, the central issue is whether there was probable cause for the underlying stop and search. Often if the evidence is suppressed, there is no case.
GETTING TREATMENT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE
Our criminal defense attorneys have extensive experience in obtaining reductions in the level of the drug crimes charges and the ultimate sentence by working with our clients to get treatment. Often treatment shows the Court that you are taking the situation seriously and are not likely to be a repeat offender. Proof of even outpatient treatment goes a long way toward helping our attorneys get your drug charged reduced. In certain circumstances, with Judicial Diversion, (see below) it is possible for our drug defense attorneys to get even felony sale charges completely dismissed. If you were selling to support your drug habit, you can still qualify for Judicial Diversion. This program can get you or your loved one the help you/they need and give you a fresh start in life, without the stigma of a criminal conviction.
There were over 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017. According to the New York Division of Criminal Justice Statistics, in 2018 there were almost 3,000 drug arrests in Westchester County, 731 of which were for felonies. In Manhattan, New York County, there were approximately 6,300 drug arrests , of which 2354 were for felony drug charges.
OUR CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS ARE ON YOUR SIDE.
A GOOD LAWYER CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE
OUR TWO LOCATIONS
OUR WHITE PLAINS CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS
203 East Post Road
White Plains, N.Y. 10601
Tel: 914-574-8330
OUR MANHATTAN CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS
18 West 33rd Street
Suite 400
New York, N.Y. 10001
Tel: 212-858-0503
Whether you are charged with simple possession or a felony drug sale, our White Plains criminal defense lawyers, and Manhattan criminal defense attorneys have the experience to get you through this process and minimize the damage to your life. From our White Plains office our Westchester county criminal defense lawyers defend people charged with drug crimes in White Plains, Yonkers, Scarsdale, Tarrytown, Port Chester, Croton, Elmsford, Greenburgh and New Rochelle.
From our Manhattan office, our Manhattan criminal defense lawyers represent people charged with drug crimes in Manhattan, NYC.