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Despite recent efforts to reform drug crime laws, arrests for drug offenses remain higher than for any other category of crime. The “War on Drugs” continues in Kansas City and surrounding areas, and a drug-related conviction can still result in stiff penalties and collateral consequences that may profoundly impact your freedom, your family, your employment, your eligibility to hold a professional license, your educational access, and much more. If you are under investigation or have already been arrested for a drug-related crime, call Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Kansas City drug crime defense lawyers immediately.

Our Kansas City Drug Crime Defense Lawyers Have Experience with All Types of Drug Charges

Among our firm’s drug crime defense attorneys are former prosecutors who bring invaluable perspective to the defense of your case. Others are career defense attorneys dedicated to challenging police overreach and fighting the mass incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders. Our Kansas City drug crime defense lawyers have defended thousands of clients facing drug charges in the Kansas City metro and throughout Kansas and Missouri.

JHC’s Kansas City drug crime defense lawyers have the experienced knowledge required to vigorously defend you—no matter the charge. We defend all types of drug charges including drug possession, drug trafficking, drug distribution, drug cultivation, drug manufacturing, drug smuggling, drug conspiracy, and prescription drug fraud. Whether you are charged with a misdemeanor or a felony drug crime, we can help.

We Defend Your Constitutional Rights

Our Kansas City drug crime defense lawyers are familiar with the investigative tactics utilized by various law enforcement authorities, and we can tell you whether they have violated your Fourth Amendment rights during a stop or search or your Fifth Amendment rights during an interrogation. We know how to mount an effective suppression defense to ensure evidence obtained in violation of your constitutional rights will not be used against you in court.

We regularly review traffic stops by highway interdiction officers to spot problems with the initial car stop and prolonged roadside detentions. We know what does and what does not justify the issuance of a search warrant and can tell if the officers executing a warrant to search your property exceeded the lawful scope of their authority. In addition, we will examine whether any statements you made were extracted via improper conduct. By challenging these constitutional violations, Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Kansas City drug attorneys work to control the evidence available at trial and prevent the prosecution from benefiting from police misconduct.

We Defend Against Drug Charges in State and Federal Courts

For decades, our drug crime defense attorneys have represented individuals charged with municipal, state, and federal offenses for all types of drugs—from marijuana and cocaine to methamphetamine and synthetic drugs. Prosecutors and judges are familiar with our Kansas City drug criminal defense attorneys due to our many years of consistent presence in their courts. They know we have earned our top-tier ratings by aggressively fighting drug charges and achieving favorable results in and out of court.

Don’t delay—call our Kansas City drug crime defense lawyers today.

FAQs

How do I win a drug possession case?

How to defend your drug possession case will depend on the specific facts at issue and your ultimate goals.

Winning at trial requires that you be able to convince a jury that one of the elements of the offense has not been satisfied. For instance: Consider a situation where drugs are found in a car driven by your friend where you were the passenger. Your mere presence in a car where drugs are found is not enough to prove that you possessed those drugs. Rather, the prosecution must show that you knew the drugs were in the car with you. If there is reasonable doubt that you knew about the drugs, you may be acquitted at trial.

You may be able to avoid trial altogether if you have a viable suppression issue. Any evidence obtained in violation of your constitutional rights (such as an unreasonable stop or search) may be suppressed (excluded from trial). If the suppressed evidence is necessary to make a case against you at trial, the prosecution may have to dismiss the charges.

When a wholesale victory like acquittal or dismissal is not practicable, your goals may shift to obtaining the lowest possible sentence. This can be managed by negotiating a plea to a lesser charge and/or presenting mitigating evidence and information to the judge who will sentence you.

If you have been charged with drug possession in the Kansas City metro area, call JHC’s drug lawyers today.

Can felony drug charges be dropped?

Felony drug charges can be dropped (dismissed) or reduced at any time before conviction.

The most effective way to obtain a full dismissal of felony drug charges is to win a suppression argument. The law permits a judge to suppress (exclude from trial) any evidence obtained in violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights—including the very drugs underlying a criminal charge. For example, if the cops stopped or searched your car in violation of the Fourth Amendment and found illegal drugs in your car as a result, the judge can suppress the drug evidence so that the prosecution is not allowed to present it at a trial. If the prosecution has no other evidence to make its case against you at trial, it is left with no choice but to dismiss the charges against you.

If you have pending drug charges, call JHC’s drug lawyers today.

What is the difference between state drug charges and federal drug charges?

Whether your drug offense will be prosecuted at the federal or state level often depends on the quantity and type of drug at issue. Larger amounts of more dangerous drugs tend to receive more attention from federal authorities. As a general rule, federal drug charges carry heavier penalties than state drug charges.

JHC’s federal drug attorneys have successfully defended individuals implicated in large-scale multi-drug conspiracies, medical professionals charged with diverting narcotics, low-level drivers and “mules,” and nearly everything in between. We have experience litigating issues specific to federal drug investigations (including wiretaps and confidential informants). And we are well-versed on the United States Sentencing Guidelines applicable to drug offenses.

Whether you’re charged in state or federal court, JHC’s drug lawyers are prepared to provide your best defense.