Legal Question in Criminal Law in Missouri

Re: First time B felony what kind of time

First of all, you are doing the right thing seeking legal advice. The fact is that you are facing several years in prison (up to fifteen) and you need to hire the very best criminal defense attorney you can afford as soon as possible unless you have already done so. If you are unable to hire a private attorney, you need to get set up with the public defender's office right away. I have been practicing law for over twenty-five years now, and I have handled quite a few Meth cases in various courts in MO and ILL on both a state court and federal court level. If you were to bring this case to me, I would first interview you to obtain all of the facts I could from you considering the state you were in at the time of your arrest. I would also contact any witnesses you may be able to provide me with. I would then obtain from the prosecutor and law enforcement authorities all of the information and materials we are entitled to under the law. I expect this material to be extensive. I would then follow up on any witnesses suggested by that material. I would consider whether or not you had any grounds for any pre-trial Motions such as a Motion to Suppress your statement, or a Motion to suppress Evidence which we use in situations where the defendant's Constitutional rights have been violated in such a way so as to make the statement or the evidence the fruit of an illegal search or seizure and thus not admissable in court at trial. There are many other such matters for the attorney to consider and to advise the client about during the course of the representation. For example, it may be advisable to seek an independent laboratory analysis of the materials they busted you with to determine whether or not it actually was a controlled substance. Also, your attorney will be very helpful in attempting to arrange for your release pending trial upon bond. Your attorney will also negotiate with the prosecutor concerning the possibility of a plea bargain which might be in your best interest. In some cases, even though law enforcement and the courts are extremely serious about Meth these days, and especially in Franklin County, it is possible to avoid prison by way of a plea bargain. In cases such as these I believe that the attorney should get himself into a proper position to be able to advise the defendant what the likely outcome of a trial would be given all of the know facts, and advise the defendant as to all aspects of a plea bargain.

It is the defendant's decision ultimately since the defendant will be the one living with the consequences. As I mentioned earlier, I have a good deal of experience and I feel that I could help you. You may call me for a consultation at 314-727-2822.