Drug Possession Defense
Defense for possession, use, and paraphernalia charges in the 19th District Court and across Wayne County, including first-offense deferrals that keep a conviction off your record.
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The charge
LegalSolv’s drug possession lawyers in Dearborn, Michigan defend possession, use, and paraphernalia charges in the 19th District Court, the 36th District Court in Detroit, the Wayne County Circuit Court, and the other district courts across Wayne County, in English and Arabic.
Michigan’s Public Health Code, at MCL 333.7403, sorts possession charges by the substance and the weight. Cocaine and Schedule 1 or 2 narcotics are felonies at any amount, with the penalty rising from a four-year maximum under 25 grams to a possible life sentence at 1,000 grams. Methamphetamine and ecstasy carry up to ten years. Most other controlled substances, including prescription medication without a valid prescription, carry up to two years. Use of a controlled substance, marijuana outside the legal limits, and paraphernalia are misdemeanors heard entirely in the district court.
A possession charge becomes something else when the prosecutor alleges intent to deliver. Packaging, scales, cash, and quantity are the usual basis, and the penalties under the delivery statute are far steeper. Part of the early work on any case is keeping a possession case a possession case.
Two ways to end a first offense without a conviction
For many first-time clients, the strategy is not a trial. It is one of two statutory programs that end the case with a dismissal.
Section 7411. For a first possession or use offense, the court can accept a plea without entering a judgment of conviction, place you on probation, and dismiss the case when probation is complete. The record is nonpublic. It is a once-in-a-lifetime option, it does not cover delivery charges, and it has to be agreed before sentencing. A person who pleads guilty without it has given it away.
HYTA. The Holmes Youthful Trainee Act covers offenses committed between age 18 and the 26th birthday, with prosecutor consent needed from 21 up. The court assigns trainee status instead of a conviction, and a completed term ends in dismissal with no public record. Serious felonies, major drug offenses, and traffic offenses are excluded.
Which one fits, and whether the prosecutor will agree, depends on the charge, the client’s record, and the court. We raise it at the first appearance, not after a plea.
When the case should be fought instead
Drug cases are search cases. The evidence came from a traffic stop, a pat-down, a car search, a home search, or a consent search, and each of those has rules under the Fourth Amendment and Michigan’s constitution. A stop without a lawful reason, a search that exceeded consent, a warrant with a defective affidavit, or a “plain view” that was not in plain view can keep the drugs out of evidence, and a case without evidence does not survive.
The second line is possession itself. The prosecutor has to prove you knew the substance was there and had the right to control it. Drugs in a car with three passengers, in a shared house, or in a bag that was not yours put that element in dispute.
The third line is the substance. Field tests are unreliable, lab results take time, and the weight that sets the felony tier has to be proven. We ask for the lab file and the chain of custody in every felony possession case before any conversation about a plea.
Where Wayne County drug cases are heard
Misdemeanor possession and use charges from Dearborn are arraigned and resolved at the 19th District Court. Felony charges start there with an arraignment and preliminary examination and bind over to the Wayne County Circuit Court’s Criminal Division in Detroit. Cases from Dearborn Heights and Detroit follow the same track from their own district courts. Some Wayne County courts run treatment court programs for defendants whose charges stem from addiction, and when that is the right path we say so.
A drug charge rarely arrives alone. A traffic stop that produced a possession charge often produced an OWI charge as well, and a conviction that is already on your record may be eligible for expungement under Michigan’s Clean Slate law. Our criminal defense attorneys in Dearborn handle all of it under one roof.
How we handle it
The same attorney handles the case from the first appearance through resolution. The first meeting covers which court the case lives in, whether a 7411 or HYTA deferral is realistic, and whether the stop and search give us a motion worth filing. Bring the ticket or complaint, the bond paperwork, and anything the police gave you.
This is a focused part of our criminal defense practice. Call (313) 425-5555 to talk through your situation.
Drug Possession FAQ
It depends on the drug and the amount. Possession of cocaine or a Schedule 1 or 2 narcotic is a felony at any amount, starting at up to four years for less than 25 grams and rising to a possible life sentence at 1,000 grams or more. Possession of methamphetamine or ecstasy carries up to ten years. Possession of most other controlled substances without a prescription is a felony with up to two years. Use of a controlled substance, marijuana outside the legal limits, and drug paraphernalia are misdemeanors. The charging statute is MCL 333.7403, and the first thing we check is whether the charge matches the lab result and the weight.
Section 7411 of Michigan's Public Health Code lets a court take a guilty plea or finding on a first possession or use charge without entering a judgment of conviction. You complete a period of probation with conditions, and if you finish it, the case is dismissed and the record is nonpublic. It is available once in a lifetime and it does not cover delivery or manufacturing charges. It has to be requested and agreed before sentencing, which is why the first court date matters.
Often, yes. The Holmes Youthful Trainee Act lets a court assign a person who committed an offense between age 18 and their 26th birthday to youthful trainee status instead of entering a conviction, with prosecutor consent required for ages 21 and up. Finish the terms and the case is dismissed with no public record. Certain serious felonies, major drug offenses, and traffic offenses are excluded. For a college student or a young worker facing a first possession charge, HYTA is frequently the most important tool in the case.
Adults 21 and over may possess up to 2.5 ounces in public and more at home under the 2018 legalization law, and can grow a limited number of plants. Charges still arise for people under 21, for amounts over the limits, for sales outside the licensed system, and for driving while impaired by marijuana, which is handled under the OWI statute rather than the drug statute. Possession of marijuana outside those limits remains a misdemeanor.
Yes. Michigan requires the prosecutor to prove you knowingly possessed the substance, which means knowledge of it and the right to control it. Drugs found in a shared car, a shared apartment, or a borrowed bag raise a real question of who possessed them, and that question is argued constantly in Wayne County courtrooms. The circumstances of the search also matter: an unlawful stop or search can keep the evidence out entirely.
Misdemeanor possession, use, and paraphernalia charges from Dearborn are heard at the 19th District Court on Michigan Avenue from arraignment through sentencing. Felony possession charges start there with an arraignment and a preliminary examination, then move to the Wayne County Circuit Court's Criminal Division at the Criminal Justice Center in Detroit. Cases from Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Taylor, Westland, and Inkster start in those cities' district courts on the same track.
Criminal Defense Across Metro Detroit
We represent criminal defense clients throughout Wayne County from our Dearborn office.
Visit Our Dearborn Office
We represent drug possession clients throughout Wayne County and Metro Detroit from our Dearborn office.
- Address 22226 Garrison St
Dearborn, MI 48124 - Phone (313) 425-5555
- Hours Mon - Fri: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
- Languages English & Arabic
Charged with possession? The deferral window closes fast.
Michigan gives many first-time offenders a way to finish the case without a conviction. It has to be raised before a plea, not after.