The failure of the drug war and drug enforcement policy in the United States is the main reason for the overload of drug related arrests and drug related incarcerations in this country. A disproportionate number of the people who are arrested by police and jailed for drug crimes tend to be of non-white races/ethnic backgrounds. A smart criminal defense lawyer will tell you that the criminal justice system hands down far more harsh sentences for minorities.
Why that is the case is anyone’s guess, but the facts are the facts.
Its easier than most people think to get arrested for a drug crime when you make the mistake of dealing, using, or manufacturing illegal drugs in Texas. This true even more so when you use drugs in public rather than in the privacy of your home.
Some people are arrested for possession of narcotics in their home during domestic disputes, but in other situations arrests are due to a controlled substance being found in a person’s possession during a traffic stop. Whether you are busted for the possession of a controlled substances due to your own use & pleasure, or for purposes related to the manufacture or distribution of illegal drugs, you will be arrested and detained by police and likely thrown in a prison cell.
During a drug arrest, any attempt to evade detention may result in additional criminal charges against you the same way as any attempt at the destruction of evidence can. The law is not very forgiving when it comes to its subjects attempting to subvert it.
So much for the idea of living in a free country where the law serves as God.
The Process of a Drug Crime Arrest
Normally when a person is arrested for a felony or misdemeanor criminal offense involving illegal drugs it is as a result of either being pulled over, snitched on, or as a result of a drug investigation by local police or a federal drug trafficking investigation by the DEA, FBI, or the ATF in cases where it may apply.
In some cases, drug arrest are conducted by U.S. Customs Agents on U.S. borders or during the landing/departure of international flights. A number of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted are wanted in connection with drug trafficking or murders related to other criminal enterprises involving narcotics.
Also worth noting, a number of the ATF’s most wanted are also wanted for drug trafficking, or in connection with drug crimes as well.
When a person is initially arrested for a criminal act involving drugs, their person is usually searched more vigorously than criminals charged with different classifications of crimes. Drug sniffing dogs, also known as the K-9 unit, may also be dispatched to the arrest/crime scene to search for drugs not found during the pat-down and initial property search by arresting officers/agents.
In the event of a major drug bust, one can expect a warrant to be issued which will allow law enforcement to search all vehicles and property of the alleged criminal named in the search warrant. This could include legal authorization to search any residence taken up by the suspect including that of family and significant others.
Regardless of how the arrest is accomplished by law enforcement, it is certainly going to be accompanied by a trip to jail for the suspect.
The Jail Experience
The first thing you’ll notice about jail is that the odor isn’t pleasant and neither are most of its residents. The next thing you’ll notice is that all the seating areas for inmates are rock hard, concrete, and bricks. This will be the most comfort you will experience during the 12-48 hours it will take you to make it through processing into the jail. After processing into the jail, you will be assigned a cell, or place in a general population area with other prisoners. The food isn’t anything special either.
The next step, bond out of jail so you can fight the charges against you.
Bonding out of Jail
In order to bond out of jail an inmate will usually need someone on the outside to enter into an agreement with a bondsman to secure a bail bond for their release.
In most cases, the people who take out the bond in their name have to secure it by using property or other valuables as collateral. In the case of bond forfeiture there is the real possibility of real estate and personal property loss.
If you intend to fight the criminal charges against you, its always best to bond out of jail and hire a criminal defense attorney to represent you during your dealings with the criminal justice system.
In most cases, the only way to be sure that you are given a fair trial is to hire a highly competent criminal defense attorney to defend your Constitutional Rights.
Hiring a Criminal Defense Attorney
Sometimes finding a criminal defense attorney can be tricky. In other cases a person charged with a crime will be bombarded by mailer advertisements from lawyers in their area offering to represent them. In other instances a person may even luck up and get referred to a good lawyer with the help of an acquaintance.
Other people may find their lawyers via internet searches, online ads, and resources like Avvo and Justia.
Once you hire a criminal defense lawyer to represent you, the attorney should take the time to prepare you for trial as well as any potential outcome that may result. High profile crime lawyers usually hire make-up teams, speech writers, and public relations firms to deal with the public face of the trial, often referred to as the 13th juror. The top criminal defense lawyers in practice will expend loads of money on expert witness to testify on behalf of their clients. Of coarse having an elite lawyer will require a sizable legal fund.
Freedom is Worth Every Penny
If my freedom was on the line, I would spare no penny in making sure I had the best chance to come out of the situation a free man. Freedom is priceless and worth paying for in blood. To have the best chance of getting a successful outcome at trial doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg, but it will cost.
If you’ve been charged with a criminal offense be sure to take the situation seriously.