Asheville, North Carolina, Criminal Defense Blog

Criminal charges can arise from many situations. In some cases, they may result from the alleged wrong-doing of a friend or acquaintance. One North Carolina woman is facing drug possession charges after her boyfriend, who was accused of numerous offenses, apparently drew police to her house.

The incident began when a gas station attendant called police after a driver apparently left the scene without paying for gas. The attendant apparently gave the police dispatcher a detailed description of the vehicle and the driver. On their way to the scene, officers passed a vehicle matching the description given by the attendant. A brief chase ensued before police lost sight of the car. They established a perimeter and began a methodical search of the area.

Drug-related charges could have negative impacts on individuals of any age. However, convictions for such allegations could have differing effects depending on the stage of life you may be experiencing. For instance, as a University of North Carolina at Asheville student, a drug conviction could potentially throw your education off course in a variety of ways.

Though legal punishments for drug convictions could obviously have negative effects, such convictions could also make you ineligible for federal financial aid. As a result, you may find yourself unable to pay for your education for a certain period of time or possibly indefinitely. Therefore, you may wish to better understand how the details of your legal issues could impact the potential for lost financial aid.

The opioid crisis has many in North Carolina seeking solutions to all manner of impairment issues. Additionally, some jurisdictions are looking for stricter ways to deal with those who operate motor vehicles while impaired. Drunk driving charges carry increasingly harsher penalties as lawmakers join the fight. Finding solutions to one special cause has one region calling for penalties that are even more severe.

A local law enforcement agency has formed a task force to study the issue of drivers who are impaired with children in their vehicles. With the support of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, the task force met to brainstorm ways to protect children who are placed in dangerous situations, such as when the adult responsible for them is unfit to drive. Representatives from MADD say incidents of child endangerment are increasing, and laws are changing too slowly to satisfy the advocates of stricter penalties for DUI convictions.

For several years, local TV viewers may have noticed a series of public service announcements aimed at youths. The goal of the ads was to reduce underage drinking by making teenagers aware of the potential dangers. Some described the commercials as morbid, using fear to alarm teens and jar them into avoiding alcohol until they turned 21. However, the director for the North Carolina Alcohol Board Control Commission's Initiative to Reduce Underage Drinking recently unveiled new commercials aimed at a different audience.

Two new ads put the attention on parents after focus groups revealed that youths are more likely to drink when their parents did not emphasize its dangers. In fact, 84 percent of middle school students surveyed believed better communication with their parents would affect their views about alcohol. The problem is that parents may not be sure how to approach the delicate topic with their children, so the commercials encourage parents to make the topic of underage drinking part of normal conversations.

When police overstep their boundaries, those who pay the consequences often do not know where to turn for help. Sometimes, without proper guidance, they may plead guilty to charges that were filed based on unlawfully obtained evidence. A North Carolina man recently agreed to a settlement following an illegal search and seizure that took place in 2012.

A police officer stopped the 41-year-old man because the man's headlights were allegedly off. The man claims the officer searched his car without a warrant or permission and supposedly found illegal drugs and a firearm. Despite the man's efforts to have the results of the search suppressed, a judge refused. The man eventually pleaded guilty to the felony charges and received a prison sentence between six and eight years.

The laws protecting citizens from unlawful search and seizure are often carefully skirted by police. While their efforts to curb crime are commendable, the result may be the violation of civil rights and potentially an unlawful arrest. Two North Carolina women are now facing weapons offenses following a search of their hotel room, the validity of which a defense attorney may question in court.

Police officers reported that they were walking past the hotel on routine patrol when they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the area of a particular room. A magistrate granted a search warrant based on the officers' claims. The officers knocked on the hotel room door. A woman answered, and police engaged her in conversation.