Toronto Drug Lawyer

Toronto Drug Lawyer

What is a Drug Offense?

If you have been caught with drugs or arrested for a drug related offence (buying, selling, producing, exporting, importing), you will find yourself in a legal system that is built on aggression and intimidation with the goal of getting you to plead guilty.

Calling Michael Juskey immediately is your best chance at avoiding a criminal record and a long prison sentence.

Your first conversation with Michael with be a no charge strategy session. You will learn how the legal system works and what options may be available to you.

Once you retain Michael as your lawyer, he becomes your partner, confidant, and of course legal representative. He will get to know you as a person – your personal and professional life, your relationships, and your values and beliefs. The better Michael knows you, the more effectively he can defend you.

Michael’s skill as a criminal lawyer allows him to determine whether the police have infringed any of your constitutional rights. These rights include freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, arbitrary detention or imprisonment and the right to counsel upon detention or arrest (the police must inform you of this right, provide access to counsel and refrain from eliciting evidence until you have spoken with counsel or validly waived this right). In many cases Michael’s clients have had charges dropped or reduced as a result of unlawful police procedures.

How can I beat a drug charge?

Even if you are found to be in possession, sale or distribution of narcotics, there are a number of defenses available such as:

It wasn’t you. The onus is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed the crime of which you are accused. Can the Crown be sure that it was you who possessed or trafficked the drug(s) and not someone else? If there is any doubt about who was in possession of, selling or transporting drugs, you should be found not guilty.

  • Every case is different with its own unique set of facts. The burden of proof rests with the prosecution. To establish drug possession, the crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused person had both knowledge and control of the drugs in question. Admissible evidence which raises a reasonable as to the elements of knowledge and/or control will result in a “not guilty” verdict at trial.
  • There are numerous strategies that an experienced criminal lawyer will employ in defending drug charges and avoiding incarceration. In some cases the defence will challenge a search warrant and/or the conduct of the police throughout the investigation. The objective in these cases is to ultimately exclude the drug evidence from the trial, resulting in a “not guilty” verdict. In other cases, where the evidence is overwhelming, the accused person may decide to plead guilty and take positive steps toward their rehabilitation in an effort to avoid jail or prison.
  • Past charges and convictions may affect a crown attorney’s willingness to drop drug charges against you. If you are found guilty a prior criminal record for drug offences will most certainly be a factor that a Court will consider in determining your sentence.

Are you Facing Criminal Charges?