Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: What Constitutes ''Possesion''?

Sitting on a jury and being presented with this fact pattern. You may have a hard time selling the 'it's not my car therefor they're not my drugs' argument. It's amazing how other people leave so much of their expensive (I think) drugs in a car they loan to someone else. I think you'll be charged. If you're not, stop at a church, and say a prayer in thanks.

presumption

If the stop was legal and you gave consent to search the car, there are no fourth amendment issues. The presumptions of possession is rebuttable and will be determined by the trier of fact. Hoever, this fact pattern is common and the jury is hard to persuade to a favorable resolution.

Re: What Constitutes ''Possesion''?

Legally, you are responsible for anything in your possession, which is further defined as your "custody and control". There are many cases that indicate that when you choose to drive a vehicle, you "control" the contents in it.

That does not mean that there is not an "intent" element of the crime of possession, and if you can have someone else come forward and claim that it was their drugs, not yours, AND that you had no knowledge or any reason at all to suspect that there were drugs in the vehicle, you will have an easier time with your defense.

In my experience, this comes up all the time in criminal law -- a defendant is in a room, or in a car, or is holding a purse, etc., where there are drugs, and the prosecution tries to file charges first, and ask questions later.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email -- I'm happy to help.

Re: What Constitutes ''Possesion''?

The D.A.s argument is that you were in possession because since you were in control of the vehicle, you were constructively in possession of every and all items in that car. Our work needs to focus on trying to get the owner of the car to fess up to responsibility vis a vis the drugs to establish that possession did not lie with you. Please call to further discuss: 310 277 1707. Thank you for your question.

Re: What Constitutes ''Possesion''?

The prosecution is required to prove that you had "knowledge" of the drugs in order to convict you for possession. Having said that, there is case law that goes against you, ie. you have possession of that which is under your custody and control (the car). So you can try and defend the case and go to trial, and it will be up to the jury to decide if they believe that you "knew" about the drugs. In the alternative, if you have no drug arrests, you can try and get deferred entry of judgment (drug diversion) and after successful completion, can get the case dismissed.

If you would like a free consultation, call me at (800) 458-1488.

Re: What Constitutes ''Possesion''?

As the others have said, you can defend your possession case based on lack of knowledge of the existence of the drugs in the other guy's car, but it will be up to a jury to decide if they believe you or not. You don't say where in the car the bag of meth was, but it may be relevant to the ultimate outcome. Also, the prosecutor and the cops probably won't check the bag for your fingerprints, but you may want to do that through your lawyer. It MAY help your case. Also, expect the prosecutor to charge you with an additional charge of driving with a suspended license, which is a separate misdemeanor and carries with it consequences above and beyond the possession charge. You don't say where your case is, but if it is in LA, don't hesitate to call me for a free consultation. Steve Mandell, Attorney at Law (310) 393-0639.