Drug offences

Criminal Defense

The search is the case.

Whether an officer had grounds to stop the car, how long they held you afterwards, whether the dog sniff was reliable and timely, whether consent to search was truly voluntary, what the warrant affidavit actually said — those are the questions that decide drug prosecutions. Evidence obtained in violation of your rights can be suppressed, and a case without the substance in evidence is not a case.

Texas grades these by substance and by weight

The Health and Safety Code sorts controlled substances into penalty groups, and the punishment range moves with the group and the quantity. That structure produces sharp cliffs: a few tenths of a gram, or the weight of an adulterant included in the total, can move an offence from a state jail felony to a first-degree felony. It also means the laboratory report and how the substance was weighed genuinely matter.

Charges we defend

• Possession, from small amounts to quantities that carry a presumption of intent.
• Possession with intent to deliver, and delivery — where the State's evidence is often packaging, scales and messages rather than a sale anyone witnessed.
• Manufacturing and cultivation.
• Trafficking and conspiracy cases, including federal prosecutions built on informants and wiretaps.
• Prescription offences: doctor shopping, forged prescriptions, and possession of controlled prescription medication without a valid one.
• Marijuana and THC concentrate cases, where the distinction between hemp and marijuana has made laboratory proof unavoidable for the State.

Who the drugs belonged to

In cars and shared homes the State often cannot show actual possession, so it argues that you knowingly exercised control over the substance. That argument depends on links: where it was, who else had access, whose fingerprints and DNA are on the packaging, what was said. Those links are frequently thinner than the offence report makes them sound.

Alternatives to a conviction

Harris County has diversion programmes and specialty courts, and treatment-based resolutions are realistic for many clients — particularly first offences and cases driven by addiction. Preserving eligibility for them is a reason not to plead quickly to whatever is first offered.

Fees, and what you get for them

Criminal matters are quoted as a flat fee for a defined stage of the case, so you know what representation costs before you commit to it. Payment plans are available. What the fee buys is a lawyer who appears at your settings, reads the file rather than skimming it, and tells you honestly which parts of the State's case are weak and which are not.

Common questions