If you host a house party in a college town like Bloomington, there is a decent chance that an annoyed neighbor may call the police. At that point, you may face the real possibility that the police charge you with crimes that you may or may not have committed.
This is particularly true when it comes to drug charges, which can completely wreck your education and many other areas of your life. If you face drug charges, no matter how you got them, you must build a strong legal defense as soon as you possibly can, and pull out all the stops to protect your rights and future freedoms. A strong legal defense is not going to appear overnight. Be sure to prioritize your own freedoms by keeping your rights secure with the legal tools you have available.
Do the drugs even belong to you?
Especially in a house party scenario, it is very easy to see how a partygoer could leave drugs in a common area, or even in a private area like your own bedroom. Unfortunately, a police officer can still give you drug charges and assume that you do own the drugs, especially if you are hosting the party.
If a police officer charges you with drug possession for drugs found in your home, you have a number of legal tools you can use to contest the charges and claim that the drugs belong to some other individual.
Unlawful conduct
It is also wise to consider whether the police violated your rights in some way during your interaction. Even in instances where a person breaks the law, police may also break the law to uphold it. This means that any actions that police take that violate the rights of a suspect may lead to dismissed charges.
This is especially common in instances of unlawful search and seizure. While a house party probably produces sufficient justification for an officer to search your home, a traffic stop may not. Commonly, officers may attempt to search your vehicle without the legal right to do so. If the police asks to search your vehicle, your person or your home, you should never give them permission to do so, even if you don’t believe that you have anything to hide.
An officer who asks for your permission is probably only asking because he or she legally needs your permission to perform the search. There is no benefit to you in allowing an unwarranted search of your property, especially considering that the officer is actively looking for evidence that you committed a crime.
As you reflect on the elements of your arrest experience, be sure to consider all the legal grounds you may have to challenge your charges and keep your rights secure. After all, if you don’t protect your rights and future, who will?
