Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

 

crime Tag

Entrapment and Oklahoma Drug-Related Crimes: What You Should Know

Entrapment and Oklahoma Drug-Related Crimes: What You Should Know

Depending on the facts, a defendant charged with drug crimes in Oklahoma may use the affirmative defense of entrapment in court. You may have some understanding of entrapment from popular culture, but the legal definition of this defense is not the same as the cultural understanding. In court, entrapment has 2 specific requirements: The defendant has no previous intent or purpose to violate the law, and The defendant is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers to commit a crime. Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instructions, OUJI-CR 8-25. Each requirement raises an important and sometimes difficult to prove issue. First, defendants who are...

Continue reading

How Police Obtain a Warrant to Search for Drugs

How Police Obtain a Warrant to Search for Drugs

Before police can search for drugs, they need to obtain a warrant from the court unless a few exceptions apply. The search warrant is a legal document explaining where the police can search for evidence of a crime. Once law enforcement has a warrant, they do not need your consent to search the specified area. Police officers must get search warrants from judges or magistrate judges. The judge issuing a warrant must be “neutral and detached” and “capable of determining whether probable cause exists”. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443 (1971). This requirement helps ensure that there is no conflict...

Continue reading

Overview of Federal Drug Crimes

Overview of Federal Drug Crimes

Similar to Oklahoma law, federal law prohibits the possession, sale, distribution, manufacture, and trafficking of drugs. When someone accused of a drug crime is charged under federal rather than state law, usually the alleged crime was committed on federal land (such as airports) or it took place in multiple states. Federal drug laws differ from Oklahoma drug laws because of the different penalties, different classifications of drugs, and sometimes, different elements of the crime. Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, the main federal law prohibiting drug crimes, in 1970. It is also known as the Controlled Substances...

Continue reading

Could You Lose Your Driver’s License Because of a Drug Charge?

Could You Lose Your Driver’s License Because of a Drug Charge?

Drug-related charges have consequences that not everyone expects. For example, a charge of driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or both results in revocation of your driver’s license unless you challenge the revocation within 15 days. Further, a charge of drug possession likely will result in license revocation. A “DUI” crime in Oklahoma includes not only driving while intoxicated by alcohol, but also driving while under the influence of any intoxicating or controlled substance. This may include prescription drugs and controlled dangerous substances (illegal drugs). Using any amount of an illegal drug while driving is a crime. 47 O.S. §...

Continue reading