Under the Influence

Orange County Under The Influence Drug Attorney

Under the Influence Drug Lawyer in Orange County

Have you been caught by police under the influence of drugs in Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Fullerton, Irvine, Newport Beach, Westminster or Costa Mesa and now looking for a way to beat the charge? The Orange County criminal attorneys at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti our legal experts will help you through the process and work to get your charges reduced or dismissed.

We understand there could be a variety of reasons why you were under the influence of drugs, not the least of which is you could have been on prescription medication. The Orange County drug crime lawyers at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti are here to help and guide you through the process.

Understanding the Charge

As one of our Orange County drug crime lawyers explains, California Health and Safety Code (HSC) 11550, sometimes known as "using and/or being under the influence," regulates drug use, and you're likely being prosecuted under this section for willfully using or being under the influence of a "controlled substance" of an illegally obtained drug.

A "controlled substance" can be a prescription drug or any illegal drug, however marijuana is excluded from this law.

Understand, if you were legally using a prescription drug prescribed to you cannot be charge under HSC 11550, however if you were driving while "on" the prescription medication you could possibly be charged with DUID.

In order for the Orange County District Attorney to convict you they must prove one of two things, either you used a "controlled substance" or "narcotic drug," and/or were under the influence of a "controlled substance" or "narcotic drug."

"Using"

In order for Orange County prosecutors to convict you of "using" a drug your "use" of the drug must be "immediately prior to arrest," per Bosco v. Justice Court of Exeter-Farmersville Judicial District

The problem is, according to one Irvine drug crimes attorney, is it's unclear what defines or meets the criteria of "current" use or "immediately prior to arrest," and subsequently most pending charges are determined on a case-by-case basis.

There have been cases where suspects have been charged with "using" within three-to-four days of their arrest and this is why it's important to contact an Orange County drug defense lawyer right away, so they can talk directly to the DA's office and examine evidence against you.

According to People v. Jones, "current use" means that you haven't entered withdrawal, but if you're withdrawal at the time of your arrest you're entitled to an acquittal of this charge.

"Under the Influence"

Unlike, say, DUI, where need to show some kind of misconduct and impairment for being under the influence to be charged, according to our Fullerton drug crimes lawyer, HSC 11550 simply requires you to be "under the influence" of a "controlled substance" to be arrested and charged.

Defending Your Charge

Even though you may think the charge against you is cut-and-dry, believe it or not you have defense options available.

You Were Never Under the Influence

There could be a variety of reasons why police may have thought you were under the influence as they're many physical symptoms mimic signs of being under the influence of drugs, like being ill or maybe a physiological condition.

As one Newport Beach drug crimes attorney explains, if the police officers don't find any drugs or drug paraphernalia on you and they didn't bother to take a blood test to confirm their suspicions it's really going to be hard for the Orange County District Attorney's office to press ahead with charges against you. Many times police will take the suspect in because they "looked" a certain way and when they ran a check priors came up, so they assume, without doing any test, you must be under the influence.

You Have a Legal Prescription

Under HSC 11550 if you possess a legal prescription and used the drug as prescribed you will be exempt from prosecution.

However, as one Huntington Beach drug crime attorney explains, if you have a variety of prescriptions for the same drug you may be prosecuted under California's doctor shopping law.

Involuntary Intoxication

For a HSC 11550 conviction you must have volunteered willingly using the drug. Now if you were "drugged" by another, or mistaken given wrong medication that you would not otherwise willfully use you cannot not be guilty of this offense

If Convicted

The slight bit of good news is if convicted this charge is only a misdemeanor, but the bad news, though only a misdemeanor you're still facing possible jail time however by having an expert Orange County drug crimes defense lawyer you can reduce jail time or stay out of jail altogether.

If convicted of HSC 11550 you face between 90 days and one year in Orange County jail, up to five years of informal probation, drug counseling, and community service.

Now if this is your third conviction within seven years of your first conviction and you have refuse court-appointed drug treatment, you will be sentenced to a minimum of 180 days in the county jail, per HSC 11550.

Get Help Now!

You may think you can "talk" to the judge and explain yourself and situation, and the judge will have a sympathetic ear. The reality is most judges will just see you as another criminal who broke the law, which is why you need a lawyer to talk for you.

If you facing such charge you need to call the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti right away at 888-478-8999. Not only will our legal experts go over and explain the complexities of this charge, but by calling but our legal experts have over a decade of successfully defending clients against all drug charges in the courts of Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and San Diego Counties.

Call the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti right away at 888-478-8999 so we can get you the best possible outcome and you and your family can go on with your life.