Drug possession is often a straightforward legal matter. Individuals caught with drugs in their pockets or in a bag they carry end up facing accusations of actual physical drug possession.
Sometimes, police officers conduct searches of spaces where there are multiple people present or where more than one person has access. They might search a business, a vehicle or an apartment where six people live together.
If none of the people present admit that the drugs found by a police search belong to them, what happens next?
The state can bring constructive possession charges
If no one admits to owning and controlling the drugs found during a police search, the state doesn’t just drop the case. Instead, a review of the situation can lead to police officers and prosecutors honing in on one individual as the party who likely had constructive possession of the drugs that they found.
Constructive possession is different than actual physical possession. It means that officers found drugs not on a person but in a location to which they had access. Generally, constructive possession allegations require proof that an individual was aware of the drugs and had the authority to decide what happened to them. The best defense strategy is different in a case involving allegations of constructive possession instead of actual physical possession.
Discussing a drug case with a criminal defense attorney can help people develop a defense strategy. It is possible to fight drug charges even in cases where the state has accused a person of constructive drug possession.