Many drug cases turn not on whether the drugs existed, but on whether the police were allowed to find them. If officers searched your car, your home, or your person in violation of your constitutional rights, the evidence they seized can be thrown out — and when the drugs are the case, throwing out the…
For many people charged with simple drug possession, the most important question is not whether they can win at trial — it is whether they can get into a program that ends with the charge dismissed and no conviction on their record. California gives that path real teeth: through drug diversion, an eligible person facing…
If police have searched your home with a drug search warrant, the raid is over but the case is just beginning — and what you do now, before charges are filed, often matters more than anything that happened while officers were in the house. Maybe they seized your phone and some property and left a…
Drug possession under California Health & Safety Code § 11350 is the crime of possessing a controlled substance — including many prescription medications — without a valid prescription. It is the most common drug charge in the state, and for most people the real harm isn’t the sentence; it’s the conviction record that follows them…
If you’ve been arrested for a drug DUI in Murrieta, Temecula, or anywhere in Southwest Riverside County, your case will be handled at the Southwest Justice Center and prosecuted by the Riverside County District Attorney’s office — and the most important thing to understand is something that works in your favor: California has no legal…
Drug crimes are very prevalent in California because the Legislature decided to pursue these activities as crimes instead of medical conditions that require serious intervention and addiction counseling. If you have been arrested, the difference between rehab and a prison cell could very well be the attorney that you choose to represent you. If you…
In Long Beach recently, police officers arrested several people for allegedly operating a drug trafficking ring. According to news reports, among the charges they now face is “conspiring to distribute narcotics.” What does a conspiracy to commit a drug crime mean? There are a variety of drug crimes on the books, including drug possession and…
Believe it or not, marijuana was once a mandatory crop in America. It’s true! According to a PBS Frontline report, the colony of Virginia demanded that every local farmer grow a form of cannabis called hemp. The sturdy plant was used to make canvas, rope and other useful materials. At the time, hemp was very…
A traffic stop turned into something much larger in Murrieta earlier this week. Murrieta Police said they pulled a “large moving truck” over at the intersection of Menifee Road and Poinsettia Street around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 1. A canine unit detected narcotics, and officers searched the truck and found fertilizer, soil, marijuana plants, marijuana…
Marijuana use for medical purposes became legal in California in 1996, with various limitations for use, possession and cultivation. Since then, legislators throughout the state have been seeking to further regulate medical marijuana and impose additional limitations on the industry; for instance, different jurisdictions have enacted tighter restrictions on marijuana sales for medical purposes. One…
Officers with the Riverside Police Department are still conducting a vehicular manslaughter investigation, which began last month. According to The Riverside Press Enterprise, the case involves a one-car accident, which occurred Friday, June 13th on Bush Avenue. The fatal accident involved a 37-year-old woman and her 69-year-old father. Prior to the accident, the daughter was…
With Colorado working through all of the complications of legalized marijuana and Washington State up next with legal pot stores pending, some media reports suggests that Alaska may be the next frontier for reforming laws concerning marijuana possession. According to Fox News, a local activist group has gathered 45,000 signatures for a ballot initiative to…
If you or a loved one is facing criminal charges in Southwest Riverside County, time is critical. Contact the Law Office of Nic Cocis today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.
