Dumfries Drug Case Process

There is a wide range of charges that exist under Virginia drug laws. A drug offense can mean a wide variety of charges that range from an unclassified misdemeanor that carries up to 30 days in jail all the way up to crimes which require huge mandatory minimum sentences in the prison, such as transporting mass quantities of drugs into the Commonwealth. If you have multiple offenses of certain kinds of drug charges, you could be looking at 10 years mandatory minimum prison time. If you are facing drug charges in Dumfries, it is essential to contact an experienced criminal defense attorney.

Booking Process

As soon as a person is arrested on a Dumfries drug charge, that person will be fingerprinted and they will have a mug shot taken. That information will be processed into a database that is managed both in the state of Virginia and also by the federal government. It is part of anyone’s background check from that point on for the rest of their life and there is nothing that anyone can do about it.

Arraignment

When someone is arrested on a drug charge, they will be taken in front of a person known as a magistrate. A magistrate is a judicial officer who is empowered with the decision to determine what, if any, bail is appropriate in a particular case. It all depends on what it is that a person is charged with. The majority of people charged with drug related crimes are given some kind of bond. After the person has left the magistrate and posted their bond, they will get out of jail.

The next step after that, in most jurisdictions, is to have a hearing in court which is called an arraignment where a person is advised of the charges against them, advised with the fact that they have the right to have an attorney represent them, and of what your trial date is.

Arrest Warrant

A warrant for a drug charge can only be issued by a magistrate. A magistrate will hear testimony under oath from a police officer or detective that indicates to that magistrate what exactly the accused has been observed to be doing. Once the magistrate hears enough evidence to establish that there’s probable cause that a felony was committed and that the accused is the one who committed it, the magistrate will issue a warrant for that person’s arrest. That warrant is essentially the initial step in what most people consider to be a drug charge.

Arrest Record

There is way to have an arrest record removed from someone’s record is to be tried for a Dumfries drug charge and is found not guilty of that charge. Even then, they have to take the steps to go into the circuit court of the jurisdiction in which they are charged and have the arrest expunged off their record. This means that there will be no more record of the actual charge or that person. An attorney who is experienced in handling drug charges in Dumfries is your best chance at achieving a not guilty verdict and seeking to have your record expunged.