Can I be charged for drugs someone else left in my car?
Hripsime Bagdasaryan's Answer
Quick Answer
Yes, you can be charged for drugs left in your car by someone else if you had dominion or control over the vehicle, but the prosecutor must prove you knew the drugs were there.
Key risks of waiting too long
Potential Risk
Prosecutors may argue you knew about the drugs because you had access to them.
Potential Risk
Failing to stay silent can provide law enforcement with more evidence against you.
Potential Risk
Not having legal representation could result in mismanagement of your case.
Potential Risk
Cases may hinge on subjective interpretations of 'knowledge' regarding the drugs.
Full Transcript
Below is an AI-generated transcript of the video answer.
Can you be charged for drugs that somebody else left in your car?
The answer is yes, you could be because California law doesn't require that the drugs are actually
yours. It requires possession and possession can be proven by having dominion or control of the
vehicle in question. So if it's your car and someone else put drugs in a place that you had
access to like the center console, the glove box under your seat, the prosecutor often is going to
argue that you knew it was there and you had the ability to control it and that's enough for them
to charge a case against you. So if you knew about it and you had access to it, that's enough for
them to charge you. But the prosecutor has to prove that you knew the drugs were there. So
that's often where these cases have that argument between prosecution and defense is whether or not
you knew that those drugs were there. So if it can be proven that you didn't know that someone left
drugs in your car, it's potential for the case to get dismissed. So if it happens that you get pulled
over and you didn't know that the drugs were there, you say nothing except that you want an attorney
and then you let your attorney handle the rest. Trying to explain yourself out of a situation
often is going to put you in a worse situation than it would have been if you had just stayed
quiet. So don't give them any more ammunition if something like this happens. I want my attorney
exercising my right to remain silent and then the attorney will take care of the rest.