Penalty and Punishment for Possession of a Controlled Substance – Health and Safety Code Section 11350

Recent changes in California’s sentencing laws now require some state prison sentences to be served out in county jail. Before this change in the law, felony convictions resulted in a sentence in state prison – As of October 1, 2011, certain felony convictions are required to be served in local county jails. These new measures were intended to solve the problem of over-crowding in California’s state prisons.

Under this new law, if you are found to be in possession of a controlled substance without a written prescription from a physician, dentist, podiatrist, or veterinarian licensed to practice in this state, you may be convicted and sentenced to serve time in county jail for 16 months, or two or three years. Under the prior law, a conviction for this offense would have resulted in a sentence of up to 3 years in state prison.

Since this offense requires a jail sentence of 16 month, two, or three years, the maximum period of time for which you can be placed on probation is three years. However, if you are sentenced to anytime in county jail then that amount of time is deducted from the period of time you can serve on probation. What this means is that if the judge sentences you to 2 years in county jail then you can only be ordered to serve one year on probation. If the court sentences you to no jail time then you can be placed on probation for the full three years. If the court places you on probation they may also impose a number of conditions that can include:

1. For a first offense under Section 11350, a fine of at least one thousand dollars ($1,000) or community service.
2. For a second or subsequent offense under Section 11350, a fine of at least two thousand dollars ($2,000) or community service.
3. If a defendant does not have the ability to pay the minimum fines specified in (1) and (2), community service shall be ordered in lieu of the fine.

If you are placed on California felony probation for this offense, this means you likely will have a probation officer. You will have to report to the probation officer on a regular basis. You also may be ordered to “test” regularly so the probation officer can be certain you are not using illegal drugs. In addition, you likely have to give up your “search and seizure rights” during the period of your probation. This means that any member of law enforcement who knows you are on felony probation can search your person or property or home without the need for a search warrant.

In addition, if you are placed on felony probation this means that if your probation officer believes you have violated any of the terms of your probation he can arrest you without a warrant. In most cases if this happens you will sit in jail without bail until the judge decides whether you in fact did violate your probation. If the judge finds you did violate your probation, you can then be sent back to jail.

Another major change in the new law is that any person who is sentenced to jail for a felony will not serve parole after their release. Under the prior law, anyone who was released from prison would be placed on parole for a three-five year period. If they violated their parole they could be sent back to prison for one year for each violation. The current law will ensure that any person convicted of this offense will be sentenced to state prison (unless they have a prior strike conviction or are a registered sex offender).

For all of the above reasons, it is critical that you retain an experienced drug crimes defense attorney to represent you when you are first accused of this or any drug offense. The experienced attorneys at Wallin & Klarich can provide you with the best possible defense in your drug case. Call us now for free information so we can begin to help you.