Penalties for Drug Charges

Drug cases really depend on the amount of drugs and what kind of drugs you’re dealing with. If it’s something like a marijuana charge and it’s not much marijuana, probably a case will be worked out with probation. If you’re facing a case with powder cocaine, for instance, and it’s many, many grams, it’s a heavier weight, as we call it. You’re facing prison time. These are charges that the state takes seriously, and by extension, the Georgia legislature. They have mandated laws that punish severely people that deal with different kinds of drugs and different amounts of drugs. Any time you’re facing a drug case, first question I always ask is what are you charged with, which drugs are we dealing with, and then how much was it. Then from there, we go and discovery more facts about the case, where were the drugs, where did they come from, that kind of thing, trying to get our mind wrapped around what the situation is and how we can help.

A message to those divorcing

I understand. Divorces are difficult processes. You’re taking a family unit and you’re splitting it, which can be tough, especially in cases with children. I know that it’s for a lot of people the hardest part of their lives. It’s a difficult part of their lives. I want them to know that we’re here for them. We understand. We’ve done many, many cases evolving divorces, involving children. I would tell them to take a deep breath, make a phone call to us, talk us through it, and we’ll get them through the process. I can promise that the hard part is usually at the beginning and things get better as time goes on, but if you make the decision to end your marriage, we’re here for you. We’ll definitely get you the result that you deserve and we’ll make sure you’re happy with it at the end.

What to expect when you call us

When someone comes in and they’ve been accused of a crime, they’re usually scared, especially people that haven’t been in trouble before. I always immediately set out to try to put them at ease, let them know that we’re here for them, that we’re going to get through this. If they come in this office, they’ve gotten a bond most likely, which is a good sign. That means that the judge has reviewed their charges and decided they are eligible for pretrial release. Sometimes they’ll come in and they’ve got an active arrest warrant, and they’re trying to get counsel before they actually have to turn themselves in. You can imagine they’re a little bit scared than some people that have already gotten a bond. We just want them to understand that the process is a long process, it is an involved process, but one that we’re with them every step of the way. We want them to know that even though we’ve done thousands of cases like this, and this is maybe their first case – we want them to know that their case is important to us as any case we’ve done. The process begins really with going to court. After that first meeting, they’re formally read the charges that they’re facing – charge or charges. Then the process goes from there. The district attorney has to provide us the evidence they’ve got against this person. Then we decide whether or not it’s a case that we want to try to work out with a plea or if it’s something we want to go to trial and actually take our chances with a jury or with a judge.

Law in a Post-COVID World

When COVID hit in March of 2020, we didn’t know what to do. Courts are a very involved, in-person process. We go to the courthouse. We sit in the courtroom with people that we don’t know, the public. The judge sits on a bench. We talk to the judge. When COVID hit, we were trying to decide how we would go forward with this pandemic facing us. Within a few months, the courts worked out a system where we did things by video, typically WebEx, something like that, or Zoom. We did our hearings on the computer virtually. The clients could be with us in the office, or they could be in the comfort of their home, sometimes in their automobile, at their office, wherever they wanted to be. We were able to do this. We carried this virtual process on for about two years. We have just now gone back to in-person literally within the last few weeks. It’s a learning curve for people, because they’re not used to having to drive down to the courthouse and find parking and find the courtroom and sit in a live courtroom. We continue to offer both virtual and in-person meetings in our office, whatever people are preferring or comfortable with. We’re happy to have them here. In-person contact’s wonderful. In today’s busy world, if they want to schedule a meeting with us by telephone or by virtual, by FaceTime, whatever, we can do that, so whatever’s easiest for them.

How Should I Treat Social Media During a Divorce?

Social media has changed the game. It’s only been around for – really been around for probably 15 years, whether it be Facebook or Snapchat or Instagram. Those are places that we go to almost immediately in the discovery process in divorces. We want to know what people have been posting online and what they’ve been saying. My advice to someone that’s about to go through a divorce is probably to get less active on social media. It’s fine to post what you normally post about your life, but keep in mind that if you’re saying things that could be used against you, and almost like a criminal consideration, be careful when you put stuff, when you post things, when you say things online. Don’t be afraid to be confronted with it again, whether it be in a deposition or in a courtroom. If you have any question about that, maybe you shouldn’t put it online.

About Family Law

I handle all of our family law matters in this firm. I can take any kind of family law case. It can be a divorce. It can be a post-divorce situation where someone is fighting over custody of a child or maybe one parent has moved out of state and the other parent wants to change the parenting agreement. It can be a legitimation case where if I was trying to get rights to a child that was born out of wedlock and anything in between. We do adoptions. We do name changes. Anything that a family might need, we can do.

Sometimes family law cases do arise out of criminal law cases. A temporary protective order could be issued in a case where there’s domestic violence and the couple decides to split and it leads to a divorce. That happens actually a good bit. Our judges usually will, if they do grant a temporary protective order, they typically will give an admonishment that they expect the divorce to, if they are going to separate and the order is going to stay in place, they expect the divorce to follow pretty quickly. They don’t want the parent to use a protective order as a basically a bargaining chip with the child and try to use it to get benefits or an advantage over the other parent. Domestic violence, which can be a criminal charge, can lead to a temporary protective order, which is quasi-criminal, then it leads to a divorce. We can help with all steps and all stages of that process.

Should I Call A Lawyer If I Was Caught With Drugs

It’s always a good idea to call a lawyer, even if you have the drugs on you. If you’re guilty, in your mind, there’s always things that we can do to try to assist. Along with negotiating with the district attorney and trying to get a favorable plea offer from the district attorney, there may be some technicalities that we can help with. Perhaps it was a traffic stop and it was improper, then we can file a motion to suppress that stop. Perhaps the officer did something else that was wrong. It’s something that an attorney who’s trained in these areas needs to look at and needs to review and render an opinion to that person, whether it’s you or someone else. Again, going into court without a lawyer is never advisable. We go to school for many years and we’ve got many years of experience here for these situations. It’s always a great idea to call an attorney and let us try to help you.

Why Hire an Attorney for an Uncontested Divorce

We’ve got a great resource here in Chatham County out of the Family Law Resource Center. It is a place where parties can go that are not represented by attorneys. They can assist them with preparing the documents to file an uncontested divorce. My understanding is they don’t give legal advice, even though there are some attorneys that work there. I think they’re essentially helping these parties go in and just generate the documents needed to file with the court. I do think it’s always a good idea to speak with an attorney. If nothing else, you may be leaving something on the table or may not be thinking about something that you were entitled to. For instance, maybe you’re married and one of the spouses has a retirement account, and they’re saying you keep yours, I keep mine. Under the law, that’s not really what it says. It says that everything should be equitably divided. I do think it’s always a good idea to at least call us, have a free consultation with us. We can give you an opinion, give you some advice. If you decide to continue to do it pro se or unrepresented, that’s okay, or if you decide you want to work with us, we’d be happy to do that as well.

Will You Talk to the Police About My Case?

Whenever police are involved, generally the way it works is a client calls and says they’ve been contacted by a detective or someone in law enforcement, that they are either a person of interest, maybe a suspect, or even already charged with a crime. Our policy is typically to first meet with the client, get their side of the story, and then usually contact law enforcement, whether it be the detective or just a street cop, and find out what’s going on, if they’ll speak to us. In my experience, it’s usually not beneficial to speak to the police about a client. I believe that they’re trying to make their case stronger. I believe they’re just trying to tie up the loose ends and then take this person to jail. We usually will hear from the police, but generally speaking, our policy is not to speak to police with our client. We will happily assist them if they have to turn themselves in on a charge, but we’re here to defend them, and defend them vigorously.

What Should I Expect When I Arrive At Your Office?

When someone comes in, and they’ve been accused of a crime, they’re usually scared, especially people that haven’t been in trouble before. I always immediately set out to try to put them at ease, let them know that we’re here for them, that we’re going to get through this. If they come in this office, they’ve gotten a bond, most likely, which is a good sign. That means that the judges review their charges and decide if they are eligible for pretrial release. Sometimes they’ll come in and they’ve got an active arrest warrant, and they’re trying to get counsel before they actually have to turn themselves in. You can imagine they’re a little bit scared than some people that have already gotten a bond. We just want them to understand the process is a long process, it is an involved process, but one that we’re with them every step of the way. We want them to know that even though we’ve done thousands of cases like this, and this is maybe their first case – we want them to know that their case is important to us as any case we’ve done. The process begins really with going to court. After that first meeting, they’re formally read the charges that they’re facing – charge or charges. Then the process goes from there. The district attorney has to provide us the evidence that they’ve got against this person. Then we decide whether or not it’s a case that we want to try to work out with a plea or if it’s something we want to go to trial and actually take our chances with a jury or with a judge.

What Are Mitigation Factors

With regards to a criminal case, mitigating factors can be things such as a lack of a criminal history, strong ties to the community, also the case itself. Let’s say you’ve got a drug offense and it is your first time getting in trouble. That would be a good thing for you. You’ll be able to talk to the district attorney and try to work out maybe a plea where this charge does not go on to your record. Georgia’s got something called the first offender act where you’re put on probation essentially. At the end of that probationary period, if you’re successful, the charges are dismissed and restricted off your record.

We’ve also got something called conditional discharge that applies just for drug cases. Similar set of laws where you’re put on probation and you’ve got some conditions to fulfill, maybe community service, maybe taking a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow the treatment that’s recommended. Again, at the end of that, you come out of it without a conviction as long as you are successful with your probation. Those things can be mitigating factors. They can help. Even if you have a criminal history, it’s not the end of the road. I would certainly say contact us. We will certainly see what we can do to help you in that. People make mistakes. People learn from those mistakes. They don’t commit them again. Then maybe 20 years later, something happens and they’re facing another criminal charge, that’s where we can come in and try to make things better.

What Is A Modification Action?

Someone will come into this office, and they’ve either been divorced, and they’ve got a parenting plan that they want to change for various reasons – it may be a case where you’ve got a father that’s never been legitimated. He had a child out of wedlock. He’s coming here, and he wants to get his rights to be legitimized, so to speak, but he also wants to get a parenting plan in place. Georgia’s got a suggested form, but also a form that we have to follow basically start to finish that specifies where a child is to live, who makes decisions, that kind of thing. If you’ve got a parenting plan and you’d like to maybe get a little bit more time or maybe tweak the holiday schedule a little bit, you can come to us. We can go through that parenting plan with you. We can look and see what you’d like to change and try to get that done for you.

How Long Will A Charge Stay On My Record?

There’s a lot of misconception about criminal convictions. People think that just because something is really old that it should come off the record automatically. That’s not true. In Georgia, with limited exceptions, if you plead guilty to something or if you go to trial and you’re convicted, it’s on your record forever. Now there are ways to apply to the state, I think particularly to the governor’s office, to ask for it to be removed, but generally speaking, it’s a conviction, it’s there, and it’s not going to go anywhere. Again, if you’ve got something like first offender or conditional discharge that you can use to what we call withhold adjudication, that would prevent you from being convicted. If you’ve gone to court, and even if it was a long time ago, decades ago, if you came out of that court with either a guilty plea conviction or with a jury verdict that rendered you guilty, it’s on your record, and it’ll be there unless you do something about it by applying to the governor’s on a level like that.

How Long Does A Trial Take?

Every case is different, but it really depends on the charges. If we’re facing a simple case, maybe a drug possession case, it can be a matter of months. However, if it’s a more serious case, a capital case like murder, it could easily drag on for several years. There are in addition to pretrial motions have to be filed. There’s usually a great deal of negotiating with the DA trying to see where the state is and where the defense is. Also, we have to go through the discovery and file motions for trial. It can easily carry on for years. The judicial system is backlogged. COVID did not help that. We do face much longer wait than usual than we did prior to March of 2020.

How Long does It Take to Get A Divorce In Georgia?

Georgia’s actually one of the more liberal states as far as the divorce process goes. The law actually says 31 days in Georgia. If you file for divorce, under the law within 31 days you can be divorced. Now in reality, if it’s an uncontested divorce, it probably will take a little bit longer than that. It’s completely based on the judge’s availability. Before COVID, you actually had to go into court even on an uncontested case and do with what we call proving up the case, which means you go in front of the judge, some questions are asked that are required by law, and then the judge pronounces you divorced. When COVID hit, the judges allowed us to do what are called motions on the pleadings, which means that we can file for divorce, we can submit certain documents to the judge, and they will actually – assuming that everything’s agreed to, they will actually sign the divorce and end the marriage there without ever having to step into the courtroom. Now that’s an uncontested process. A contested process can be many months or even years. It’s really based on – depending on the party’s needs and the scope of the divorce. Is it just a husband and wife that need to get divorced, that need to divide up their assets and debts, or is it a family with children, and we need to figure out the parenting arrangement with them, what we call the parenting plan? Then also the child support – how much is that going to be? Who needs to pay it to whom? The complexity of the divorce is definitely a case-by-case basis. In a great situation, you’re divorced in less than two months. In a bad situation, maybe it takes two years. Again, it depends on the parties and their needs and wants.

Can A Person Be Convicted Based Only On A Confession

A judge would say that the weight of the evidence is what the jury should consider when you’re charging a jury. Just because someone goes in and says they did something doesn’t necessarily mean that that is taken at its word. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to result in a conviction. Obviously, the police are well-trained. A lot of times they will interview someone after they have waived their right to have an attorney. In that interview, the person will make certain confessions that can be damaging to the case. However, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road. There’s things we can do to try to mitigate that or try to make things better for them. Yes, generally speaking, a confession certainly from a defendant can be used against them. We obviously advise someone not to speak with anyone in law enforcement without first consulting with an attorney.

John On Family Law

I understand divorces are difficult processes. You’re taking a family unit, and you’re splitting it, which can be tough, especially in cases with children. I know that it’s for a lot of people the hardest part of their lives, the most difficult part of their lives. I want them to know that we’re here for them. We understand. We’ve done many, many cases involving divorces, involving children. I would tell them to take a deep breath, make a phone call to us, talk us through it, and we’ll get them through the process. I can promise that the hard part is usually at the beginning, and things get better as time goes on. If you make the decision to end your marriage, we’re here for you. We’ll definitely get you the result that you deserve, and we’ll make sure that you’re happy with it at the end.