Drug Crime Attorneys Serving Illinois
Presenting an Effective Defense to Drug Charges
Lyon & Kerr has developed a criminal defense practice focusing on conspiracies to possess, manufacture, deliver, and traffic large quantities of narcotics. When it comes to drug crimes at Lyon & Kerr there is no case too big, and no case too small. We work with clients charged with offenses ranging from misdemeanor marijuana possession to serious drug trafficking felonies that involve large amounts and severe sentences.
Whether we are talking about cannabis, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, or prescription drugs, nearly all drug prosecutions hinge on constitutionally protected privacy rights and the state’s burden to prove the element of knowledge beyond a reasonable doubt. Contact us to turn the tables on the prosecution.
We move swiftly to preserve evidence, compel discovery and to conduct our own investigation. We move to quash arrests and to suppress evidence based upon fourth amendment violations and we move to suppress statements based upon fifth and sixth amendment violations. We attack the reliability of canine searches, and we don’t just take the informants word for it – we force the government to prove each and every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Whether it be less than a gram, or more than a kilo we take immediate action and use proven tactics to protect your rights and to secure your freedom. Contact us immediately for help.
If you or someone you know has been arrested, or is being investigated for drug charges, you need the immediate attention of experienced criminal defense attorneys. At Lyon & Kerr, our drug crime defense lawyers handle cases charged in the State of Illinois, and throughout the United Sates in Federal District Courts. Contact us immediately to learn about your options and put our decades of experience to work on your case.
We can help you understand:
- Who to hire to represent you?
- When do you need to hire a drug crime defense lawyer?
- How much do drug crime defense lawyers cost?
- How to choose a drug crime defense attorney?
- What drug crimes are felonies?
- What drug crimes are federal?
- Why you may need to hire a drug crime defense attorney?
- Why it is important to hire a drug crime lawyer if you have been charged or accused?
- How can you win or reduce drug crime charges?
At Lyon & Kerr, our first instinct is to employ our trial experience and complex legal research skills to develop a strategy for confronting the prosecution, and to find a way to beat the case. We believe in aggressively defending our clients at every stage of the proceedings. From the government’s investigation (pre-arrest) to the preliminary hearing (post-arrest), and from a motion to suppress evidence to a jury trial, our firm’s defense philosophy is to hold the government to its burden of proving each element of the alleged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. We take a proactive approach toward drug crime defense, one that involves strategic thinking, thorough legal research, and the building of leverage against the power of the prosecution.
The legal team at Lyon & Kerr represents people charged with:
- Drug possession
- Drug sales or trafficking, including possession with intent to deliver
- Manufacture and delivery charges
- Illegal possession or distribution of prescription drugs
- Conspiracy to import, transport, manufacture or distribute drugs
- Offenses listed in the Cannabis Control Act
- Offenses listed in the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act
We also advise people about asset forfeiture proceedings or money laundering charges related to drug investigations. Our attorneys practice throughout the State of Illinois and Federal Courts throughout the United States.
How to Win a Drug Crime Case?
Some Common Drug Crime Defenses
Preliminary Hearing / Probable Cause – The first opportunity to win a drug crime case is at the preliminary hearing. An experienced drug crime defense attorney may be able to convince a judge that the prosecution lacks the requisite probable cause to begin the case in the first place. Such a finding at the preliminary hearing may result in the outright dismissal of the initial complaint.
Unlawful Search & Seizure – The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the Unites States guarantees your right to privacy. Law enforcement officers regularly violate your constitutional protections in the course of drug crimes investigations. While drugs discovered in the open, or in plain view, may be admitted against you as evidence, drugs found during a search in a private area – such as in a vehicle, in your home, on your person – may be suppressed. The litigation attorneys at Lyon & Kerr have been defending your constitutional rights for more than six decades. Contact us now for a consultation as it relates to your right of privacy.
Missing Evidence – The prosecution bears the burden of properly securing and preserving the evidence prior to trial. If evidence is lost or misplaced, it may critically weaken, or even unravel, the prosecution’s entire case.
Drugs belonged to another person – Generally speaking, the prosecution must prove that the accused had knowledge of the drugs recovered, and control over the area wherein they were found. In some cases we can put the prosecution in a position of being unable to prove the requisite elements of knowledge and control.
Entrapment – This occurs when police or law enforcement induce a suspect to commit a crime that they otherwise would not have committed.
Planted Drugs – This can be difficult to prove, but we have seen it happen, particularly in drug crime cases, and we are prepared to assist you in mounting a thorough and private investigation into what may be unlawful acts by corrupt law enforcement officers.
Call for a Free Consultation With an Experienced Drug Crimes Attorney
For more information about our approach to drug crime defense, contact Lyon & Kerr for a free consultation. When it comes to drug crimes, nothing is more important to us that developing a strategy to protect you and your constitutional rights from the reach and power of the prosecution.