Annapolis Drug Conspiracy Lawyer
Drug conspiracy charges relate to whether a person was a cooperating with the drug offender. Conspiracy charges are different from actual charges because a person who is a co-conspirator in the drug case may not have seen, touched or distributed the drugs, or did anything in violation of the law. The fact that they acted in a way to further the criminal enterprise is enough to make the co-conspirator charge.
Drug conspiracy charges are as serious as the underlying criminal offenses. They have the same penalties as the criminal offenses. Although a co-conspirator might only be committing a misdemeanor act; if they are charged with conspiracy to distribute or conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute as opposed to the actual felony offenses, the penalties are the same.
If you have been charged, contact an Annapolis drug conspiracy lawyer right away for assistance in building a defense.
Conspiracy Charges
Somebody can be charged with conspiracy and the separate underlying offenses. Usually, officers try to charge an individual with everything they can and allow the prosecutors to make determinations about which charges are appropriate to present to the court system.
Annapolis prosecutors must prove that there was a meeting of the minds by the co-conspirators in furtherance of the criminal enterprise.
Investigation
Usually, officers make determinations about what criminal activity originally took place and work backwards from there. They determine whether an individual was involved in providing the drugs, setting up the meeting to purchase drugs, distributing drugs, packaging drugs, or any other activities associated with the final criminal offense carried out.
Law enforcement officers use any tools at their disposal to build a conspiracy case. Wiretaps, confidential informants, or expert witnesses can be used to prove in court that a person was engaged in some kind of criminal activity.
Evidence
Proof of intent might include the testimony of confidential informants, a co-conspirator paid by somebody associated with the criminal enterprise, or anything that can be used to show the individual’s involvement with respect to the criminal activity being plotted.
Conspiracy drug cases focus on constitutional issues that other criminal cases might not. For example, if somebody is charged with an assault on another person; that case might have constitutional issues raised but would not be as focused on the issues of search and seizure.
The constitutional issues associated with certain kinds of criminal cases are not the same as those with respect to other types of criminal cases. It is important to work with a lawyer who has experience resolving these types of criminal matters and handled drug cases in the court system.
Importance of a Lawyer
Your drug conspiracy attorney in Annapolis should have relationships with prosecutors and judges and have the experience to make representations and arguments in court related to constitutional issues and other factual analyses. The attorney should have resources available to conduct the investigation of a criminal case on behalf of the client. They should not rely only on the investigation conducted by the prosecution in the case.
A person should collect all of the documents received from the police officers at the time they were charged. They should communicate with their attorney about anything they think is relevant, even statements the person believes are not important should be shared for their attorney to evaluate.
They should have candid discussions with their drug conspiracy lawyer in Annapolis about what they believe are relevant issues in their case. This is extremely important to share during initial meetings so that a proper evaluation and investigation can be conducted to prepare for the case.