Drug trafficking is a far more serious charge than drug possession. Individuals facing a trafficking charge will generally face far stiffer penalties if convicted. A skilled drug crimes attorney in Nashville can review the specific charges against their client.

Basic Facts about Drug Trafficking

Trafficking charges generally relate to defendants suspected of manufacturing, selling or distributing illegal drugs. This is a much more severe charge than mere possession or use of an an illegal drug. State laws look at the type and quantity of the substance involved as well as the intent of the suspect.

Type of Drug Involved

If a criminal suspect is caught with an illegal drug such as heroine or cocaine, a trafficking charge may attach even if the quantity in question is relatively small. These “harder” drugs are deemed to have no medicinal value and the law often presumes that possession in sufficient quantities shows an intent to sell or distribute. Drugs such as marijuana or others that have some medicinal value will require the possessor to have a much larger quantity in order to have a trafficking charge attach.

Drug Trafficking Penalties

The key question when discussing criminal penalties is whether the defendant faces misdemeanor or felony charges. Felony charges are much more severe and often include significant jail time and fines. Additionally, felony convictions can follow the defendant around for the rest of their lives making it difficult for them to find employment and housing in some cases. If convicted of a trafficking charge as opposed to mere possession, even a first time offender can face a felony conviction.

Federal Drug Charges

In some cases, a drug trafficking charge can be pursued in Federal Court. In particular, if the alleged trafficking crossed state lines, included wire fraud or is part of a RICO case, the defendant may be charged in federal court. In both state and federal court, drug trafficking charges often have mandatory minimum sentences.

Facing Drug Trafficking Charges

Due to the seriousness of the potential penalties, it’s important that a criminal defendant understands what they’re up against if facing a trafficking charge. An attorney can review the charges and probe for any weaknesses in the prosecution’s case. Additionally, inquiry can be made into how law enforcement collected evidence and investigated to ensure the defendant’s constitutional rights were protected.

An experienced drug crimes lawyer in Nashville can assist you with building a defense strategy in the event you face charges. The sooner you engage the services of an attorney, the more options you may have. To schedule an appointment for an initial consultation with Horst Law, call .

Child molestation charges can expose the offender to serious, lifelong consequences. If you face charges, you should discuss your case with an experienced, compassionate Sex Crimes attorney in Nashville who can review your charges and help you understand what to expect from the criminal court process.

Child Molestation Charges

Child molestation and child pornography charges carry some of the most serious consequences available to a criminal defendant. If convicted, you may face felony penalties including significant jail time and life-long reporting requirements with the sexual offender registry. Therefore, it’s important that you discuss your case with a qualified attorney who can help build a defense strategy tailored to your specific circumstances.

Building a Defense Strategy

In any criminal defense case, an attorney can review the facts surrounding how evidence was collected and the specific charges filed. Criminal defendants are afforded particular rights in the evidence-collecting and investigation phase. If evidence was collected in violation of due process rights and prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures, this could form the basis for a defense strategy. For example, if police collected evidence without a proper warrant or beyond the scope of an issued warrant, your attorney may petition the court to have this evidence suppressed.

Regardless of the crime charged, the prosecution has the burden of proving each and every element against the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt. Your attorney can review these charges as well as the evidence probing for any weaknesses in the case. In some cases, these weaknesses may be enough to warrant a dismissal of charges. In other cases, they may be used as a negotiating tool for a lesser charge or plea bargain. Your attorney cannot guarantee a specific result, but these are some of the considerations that may go into building a defense strategy.

Your Role During the Criminal Process

If you have been charged, you may be under a court order or bail conditions pending trial. It’s important you understand what these are so discuss them in detail with your lawyer. You must show up for any court hearings and obey orders such as refraining from drugs or alcohol or having contact with the victim. If you fail to follow court orders, this can put your freedom at risk and expose you to additional charges.

If you have been charged with child molestation or other crimes, it’s critical that you engage the services of a skilled Sex Crimes lawyer in Nashville as soon as possible. The sooner you have sound legal advice, the more options you may have for building a defense. To make an appointment with Horst Law, call .

While once considered a reliable and key piece of evidence, eye witness identification has fallen greatly out of favor in criminal cases. There have been scientific studies that have shown that this type of evidence is actually much less useful than originally believed. Your Nashville criminal attorney has explained below the ways in which he may challenge eye witness identification against you.

False Memory exists. I know. I have represented a lot of fathers falsely accused of child sexual abuse by vindictive ex-girlfriends or wives. A great expert in child false memory and parental alienation is right here in Nashville Tennessee, Dr. Bill Bernet.

Tennessee requires sex offenders to register with the Sex Offender Registry. If you or a loved one has been convicted of a sexual offense, it’s critical that you understand what’s required and the consequences of failing to comply. Discuss your case with an experienced Nashville sex crimes attorney to get all the facts.

Classification of Sexual Offenses

Sexual offenders and violent sexual offenders are required to register. Sexual offenders are those individuals who have been convicted of a sexual offense as defined by the Texas legislature. Your attorney can review your charges and help you understand if you fall into this category. Violent sexual offenders are those who have a qualifying conviction under the statute.

As can be expected, the reporting requirements for violent sexual offenders is far more stringent than for sexual offenders without that violent classification.

Reporting Requirements

Sex offenders must register with local law enforcement where they live. For violent offenders, reporting must be done quarterly. Nonviolent offenders report annually within a few days of their birthday. For violent offenders, their registration requirements will be for life. Nonviolent offenders may be able to petition the court after ten years to cease reporting. It’s a good idea to discuss your case with a qualified attorney to help you understand the grounds for having your registration requirements removed. Every case is different.

Consequences of Failing to Report

If an offender fails to report, it can expose them to felony charges. Discuss this with your lawyer to ensure you fulfill your requirements and avoid additional charges.

The Role of Your Defense Attorney

If you or a loved one has been charged with a sexual offense, the sooner you seek sound legal advice, the better. Although your attorney cannot guarantee an acquittal or dismissal of charges, he or she can review how evidence was collected against you and the specifics of your charges. Your attorney can also negotiate with the prosecuting attorney on your behalf. A plea bargain may be an option depending on the specific facts of your case. Again, your attorney cannot promise the prosecution will agree to a lesser charge, but if there is any chance your charges can be reduced to something less than a reportable sexual offense, this is a defense area you may wish to explore.

If you have been accused or convicted of a sexual offense, it can have serious, negative consequences that can impact all aspects of your life. Speak to a skilled Nashville sex crimes lawyer who can discuss your best legal options. To schedule an appointment with the law offices of Horst Law at .

Do you think you have enough legal knowledge of the court system and your case to represent yourself in court? Perhaps you do, but you should consider the positives and negatives of representing yourself before you actually do so. The following information can help you decide whether you should represent yourself in court or hire the help of a Nashville criminal law attorney. 

As a Nashville criminal defense attorney who has represented many people accused of a sex crime I occasionally find myself in family court defending a client when the State or another parent is attempting to remove a child from a parent’s custody because of sexual abuse allegations.

A case in the news today (Mama June’s Kids Could be Taken Away by Child Services) underscores how the State often abuses its power when it tries to remove children from a parents home.  These cases raise serious threats to the liberty and freedom of all citizens.

Thankfully, I have never seen the show Honey Boo Boo. The entire child beauty pageant thing frankly creeps me out.  Nevertheless the fact that the State wants to step in and remove a child from her Mother‘s care because of who her mother might be dating concerns me.  At least in this particular case  it appears that the alleged sex offender the mother is alleged to be dating allegedly abused another daughter of the Mother years ago.  Therefore the State may have a legitimate concern in this case.

Nevertheless this case reminds me of a case I had a few years ago when I represented a mother in Tennessee in a case where the State through the Department of Children’s Services was attempting to remove the child from the Mother because she had married a man  who 20 years before had been convicted of a sex offense.  Now keep in mind that there was no evidence the Mother had allowed the man to have contact with the child.  In fact she had proven that they maintained separate residences. Furthermore she had pledged that she would not allow the convicted sex offender to have contact with the child, and keep in mind that the conviction of the husband was 20 years ago for the crime of rape against a teenage girl, and the minor child of the Mother in this case was a young boy.  Therefore, for no other reason than who she had married the State stepped in and tried to remove the child from this Mother.

My Client was so terrified of the State and its heavy handed authoritarian rule and of the Judge who, through her comments in open court, had made it apparent that she was a puppet of the State and D.C.S., my client chose to give into the State’s demands rather than take the case to trial.  She was therefore forced to not only promise that she would never let her child to have contact with her husband- which is fine, but she was forced to divorce the man, and was forced to pledge she herself would never have contact with him either.  What business did the State have in telling this woman who she could or could not marry or date as long as the man did not have contact with her child? Don’t we still have a constitution – somewhere? Could someone open that thing up, blow the dust off of it and actually apply it to some of these situations?

So big brother is here. When people ask me why I represent individuals accused of child sexual abuse or child molestation I reply that one of the reasons is that this is the excuse that big government will use to control the personal life of all of us. By simply accusing a person of sexual abuse or simply accusing a person of exposing a child to the danger of sexual abuse the State removes all sympathy of the general public from the accused, because now that person is  A CHILD MOLESTER and no one wants to stand up for the rights of a child molester.  The ever expanding power of the State to regulate our personal lives granted to it by the legislature in order to “protect the children” is well on its way down the slippery slope and soon it will be too late. Before the general public sees it coming we will all simply be servants to the State and the State will consider our children state property for the State to raise as it deems proper.

Brent Horst, Nashville Tennessee

Nashville Criminal Lawyer

Board Certified Criminal Trial Attorney. Licensed in Tennessee and Florida.

Despite human imperfections, eyewitness testimonies often have great sway on the jury’s decision. Your Nashville criminal defense attorney may easily detect discernible errors in the two most commonly used identification methods: the photo array and the line ups. You can help your case by researching these procedures and the ways to challenge them at court.

On Friday it was announced that two women were arrested in Nashville for the sexual offense of sex trafficking of a 16 year old girl. (Sex trafficking in West Nashville Tennessee)

The two Defendants face a class B felony sex offense which carries a sentence of 8 – 12 years. While it is currently unknown if the authorities are investigating any of the customers or “Johns” who paid to engage in sexual contact with this minor these customers have plenty to be concerned about even if they did not now she was a minor. While patronizing (hiring a prostitute) in Tennessee is a misdemeanor and does not requires sex offender registration, statutory rape is a felony that does require sex offender registration.

Sexual activity with a minor in most states like Tennessee and Florida is a strict liability crime. It does not matter if the minor looks 25, had a fake driver’s license, and lied about her / his age.   Prosecutions of an individual who was actively misled and who had no reason to suspect or know the minor was in fact under age are rare but they can and do happen. Therefore, if the police come knocking and start asking questions responding with: “I’m sorry I did not know she was a minor” will do nothing but land that person in jail and on the sex offender registry.  As usual the best answer when the police come to the door is to say nothing except for “I want a lawyer”, then shut up and call a lawyer. Preferably call a sex crimes lawyer with experience in sex offense cases.

Brent Horst, Nashville Tennessee

Board Certified in Criminal Trial Law, Licensed in Tennessee and Florida.

Today was a good day in court with the retirement and eventual dismissal of a client’s indictment for two counts of rape of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of Sexual Activity with a minor, and two counts of incest. Our client was facing over 75 years in prison if convicted.

This case was a classic case of a false allegation that was made because a combination of the alienation or bad feelings by the mother toward the paternal grandfather and the improper leading suggestive questioning and interrogation of the child by the mother before the child after repeated denials finally gave into the Mother’s questioning and stated she had been abused.

Dr. Peter Ash a forensic psychiatrist from Atlanta had testified at a pre-trial hearing in this case that suggestive and leading questioning of a young child can actually lead to the creation of a false memory in the child. I believe that it was this testimony that likely caused the State to retire this case with no further action to be taken against our client and agreeing to the ultimate dismissal of these eight very serious sex offenses.

Brent Horst, Attorney, Nashville Tennessee

Board Certified in Criminal Trial Law, Licensed in Tennessee and Florida.