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Can you block evidence from being used against you?

On Behalf of | Jul 9, 2021 | Drug Charges

Drug charges pose a significant threat to your future. Not only do you face the very real possibility of long-term incarceration, but a conviction can also cause irreparable damage to your reputation and leave you with a criminal record that will be nearly impossible to escape. That’s why you have to carefully consider your criminal defense options. Only by aggressively pursuing the defense that is right for you can you maximize your chances of beating the prosecution and protecting your future.

Suppressing evidence

While you have the ability to challenge the facts presented by the prosecution by using your own witnesses, a much stronger defense blocks those facts from ever being presented to the judge and jury. The best way to do this is through evidence suppression.

There are a lot of ways in which evidence can be suppressed. One common example is through the use of the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. Here, evidence that is obtained following an illegal police action is considered tainted and therefore inadmissible at trial. This legal theory is often employed when an accused individual is arrested on drug distribution charges after narcotics are found in a vehicle following an illegally conducted traffic stop.

Other suppression options

The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine can be pretty wide-reaching, taking into account many other situations where law enforcement engages in an illegal warrantless search and seizure. Yet, that legal argument may not be the only one that you have at your disposal. You may be able to block witness testimony if a witness is subpoenaed but fails to show for a deposition, and you might be able to prohibit laboratory and other physical evidence from being used against you if there are significant chain of custody errors.

Know how to build the strong criminal defense you need

As you can see, regardless of how stacked against you the deck may seem, you might still have strong criminal defense options at your fingertips. To learn more about those options and how best to deploy them to your advantage, consider reaching out to a skilled criminal defense law firm like ours.