Prince George’s County Prescription Drug DUI Lawyer
In Prince George’s County, a prescription drug is characterized as any drug that requires a prescription from a medical professional. For a person to be charged with a prescription drug DUI, that person must have been in operation of a controlled motor vehicle while under the influence or impaired by some form of controlled dangerous substance – in this situation, a medication of some sort.
There are several reasons why a person should contact a Prince George’s County prescription drug DUI lawyer even if they think that they can fight the charges on their own. A prosecutor is not really permitted to have a meaningful discussion with a defendant. A drug DUI attorney can call a prosecutor and have a casual conversation of the facts, the history, and post-resolutions.
Common Prescription Narcotics Offenses
The most common examples of prescription drugs that are commonly seen linked to prescription drug DUI are Xanax, Oxycodone, OxyContin, and Percocet. The penalties for a prescription drug DUI charge is up to a year incarceration and/or a $1,000 fine. It is important to provide all prescription and medical information to the attorney when prescription drugs are involved because it does not necessarily detract away from whether someone was under the influence or not.
It is certainly going to perceived very differently and treated differently by courts and prosecutors if a person may have a prescription for the substance that they had consumed prior to driving or whether they have no right to have it to begin with and would have been in illegal possession of it had they been caught with it before taking it.
Defining the Role of a Drug Recognition Expert
The role of a drug recognition expert in prescription drug DUI cases is that only a drug recognition expert or DRE, has the ability to conduct an assessment and examination on an individual suspected of driving under the influence of a narcotic or drug. A regular officer who does the field sobriety test for alcohol doesn’t have the qualification. Only a specific DRE can testify appropriately as to whether they believe someone is under the influence.
Aggravation of Prescription Drug DUI Cases
Prescription drug DUI charges can be aggravated if someone does not have a prescription for those drugs because it would have been a separate crime in and of itself for the person to have possessed or consumed that drug, and there is concern there is drug addiction or someone engaged in otherwise other criminal activity.
In order to analyze a case and prepare for defense, a Prince George’s County prescription drug DUI lawyer must obtain, review and examine videos, photographs, reports, communications, and medical histories. Everything and anything that an attorney can get their hands on that might be even tangentially-related must be obtained and reviewed to get a full accounting and a full understanding of the various facets of a case.