Understanding Drug Court Success
So you’re in drug court, and you want to make sure that you succeed. What are some things that you can do to avoid getting kicked out? Hi, my name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a Tulsa drug crimes attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing family and criminal law for almost eight years now, and I want to help make law easy by discussing what can lead to dismissal from drug court and ensure that you don’t fail.
Avoiding New Offenses
So this seems like an obvious one, and I’m not going to spend too much time on it, but picking up new offenses while you’re in drug court is an almost guaranteed automatic kick out of any drug court program. It doesn’t necessarily matter if it’s a misdemeanor or if it’s a felony, picking up a new charge while you’re in that program it’s not good. It doesn’t even necessarily need to be a drug-related offense.
I had a case not too long ago. My client was in the middle of drug court. She was more than halfway through her process, and for whatever reason, she ended up getting pulled over one day. Instead of just talking with the cops and giving her identification, she gave someone else’s name, number, all of that, basically trying to say that she was a different person to avoid getting in trouble because she was worried that being pulled over while in drug court was going to be detrimental to her.
Consequences of Bad Decisions
Now, guys, here’s the sad part. Getting pulled over wasn’t going to get her kicked out of drug court. Getting a traffic ticket wasn’t going to get her kicked out of drug court, but committing the crime of falsely impersonating another person to create liability, that did. That’s a felony offense that carries up to 10 years in prison. Now, I want to be very clear, this is an allegation. This isn’t a conviction, but picking up the charge is what gets you kicked out of the drug court program.
The state’s alleging that they pulled her over. She gave someone else’s information, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. She didn’t have to do that if she didn’t, but because she picked up the charge, because the state’s saying that this is what happened, now she’s getting kicked out of the program. Now she’s not going to be able to finish out the remainder of it. Now she’s not going to be able to get the benefits of finishing a drug court program, which could be a very light probation or maybe even a dismissal of the charges.
Keeping Your Record Clean
Instead, now we’re looking at, she’s going to be sentenced according to what she entered a plea on when she pled into drug court. It sucks. The best thing I can tell you in these situations is to make sure you keep your nose clean. Make sure that you’re staying out of trouble. Don’t pick up new charges. If you’re in this program, it’s the court trying to say, hey, we’ve seen something in you. We want to work with you, but you’re kind of on, you’re on one of, if not your very last life.
If you have questions about this, give me a call. I want to talk with you about it. I want to help you out. My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a Tulsa criminal attorney with Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy.
Schedule Your Strategy Session
For personalized advice and guidance, don’t hesitate to reach out for a low-cost initial strategy session. Contact me at 918-879-1681. Let’s work together to help you succeed in your drug court program.
