Most drug cases are decided twice: once by how the evidence was found, and once by whether the charge is personal use or sale. The first decides whether the case survives at all. The second decides whether it can end in dismissal instead of a conviction. Both are argued early, or not at all.
What you’re facing
These are the things people actually say on the first call. Each one has an answer, and none of them require you to have decided anything yet.
For most people, simple possession has been a misdemeanor since Proposition 47 — and eligible cases can route into diversion that ends in dismissal. Felony exposure generally attaches to sale, transportation and certain priors, which is precisely why the sale allegation is the first thing contested.
California law largely agrees. Pretrial diversion under Penal Code 1000, drug court and collaborative courts route eligible cases into treatment or education, and completion ends in dismissal. Eligibility is argued at the front of the case — before any plea — because that is when the door is open.
Sale allegations are built from indicia — a scale, packaging, cash, messages — not from the substance itself. Each has an innocent explanation, and the difference between possession and possession-for-sale decides both the exposure and whether diversion remains available.
Professional licenses, student aid, immigration status and housing all read a drug conviction differently from a dismissed case. The disposition is chosen for what it does to the record, not only for the sentence attached to it.
Then that is where the case starts. Prolonged detentions, consent that was not freely given, warrantless vehicle and phone searches, and defective warrant affidavits are litigated under Penal Code 1538.5 — and evidence that came in unlawfully can be kept out.
These cases are won on the search and on eligibility — both of which close early. From the first call you always know which doors are open, which are closing, and exactly where you stand.
Send the case review or call the 24/7 line. The attorney who will argue your case is the one who answers — there is no intake service.
Diversion and collaborative-court windows are checked before arraignment, because a plea entered first can close them.
Body-cam, the stop's justification, consent, the warrant affidavit and the lab file read in full. Strategy and a flat fee confirmed in writing before anything is filed.
Suppression, dismissal, diversion or reduction — and then the relief that cleans what remains. Nothing is agreed without your say-so.
Attorney–client privilege attaches before you have hired anyone.
Diversion windows are mapped in the first call — before any of them close.
Every position, plea and motion is explained and agreed first.
From the case files
Two matters in July 2026, six counts between them — judicial diversion granted on every count, with all charges to be dismissed in one year.
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Charged with four strikes and ten felonies and facing 21 years in state prison, the client left with no jail and no prison time — probation and community labor. June 2026.
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Four separate felony domestic-violence matters between December 2025 and July 2026 ended the same way: a mitigation package before the filing deputy, and the case rejected on the first scheduled court date.
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Two felony criminal-threats counts — both strikes — reduced to misdemeanors at the preliminary hearing, with judicial diversion granted and dismissal in twelve months. March 2026.
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A misdemeanor theft case dismissed on completing a theft class and community service — and a felony welfare-fraud matter reduced to a misdemeanor, then dismissed. December 2025.
↗Discuss your caseResults drawn from the firm's published Avvo case results (2025–2026). Case results depend on the unique facts and law of each case. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.
First hours
The search argument and the diversion window both live at the front of the case — and both close quietly.
Stage by stage
Six stages, and the two that decide most cases come first. This is the shape from the stop to the day the record is cleared.
| Case reference | HS 11350/11377 possession | HS 11351 possession for sale | HS 11352 transportation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severity | Misdemeanor for most (Prop 47) | Felony | Felony |
| Custody exposure | ≤ 1 year | 2 / 3 / 4 years | 3 / 4 / 5 years |
| PC 1000 diversion | Generally eligible | Not eligible | Not eligible |
| Typical defense focus | The search | The indicia of sale | Intent and destination |
Statutory ranges only — actual exposure moves with quantity, priors, enhancements and county practice, and eligibility rules carry their own conditions. Confirm against current statute before relying on any entry here.
Where cases turn
No defense is generic. These are the places drug cases most often turn once the stop, the search and the lab file are read side by side.
Start your case review →→A lawful stop can become unlawful by lasting longer than its purpose. Prolonged detentions waiting for a dog, pretext stops and expanded questioning are all litigable, and they take the evidence with them when they fail.
The People must prove consent was free and voluntary. Number of officers, tone, whether you were told you could refuse and whether you were already detained all bear on that — and body-cam usually settles it.
A shared car, a borrowed jacket, a house with several occupants: the People must prove knowledge and control, not nearness. Constructive-possession theories are argued back to the evidence that actually supports them.
Scales, packaging, cash and messages are indicia, not elements. Personal-use quantity, tolerance, and the innocent explanation for each item are the argument — and it decides diversion eligibility.
Chain of custody, analyst notes, instrument calibration and quantitation are discoverable. Field presumptive tests are not lab results, and cases have turned on the difference.
Where a warrant or a stop rests on a confidential informant, reliability, corroboration and disclosure are all litigable — and in-camera hearings exist for exactly this.
Treatment history, employment, school, letters and a credible plan are assembled and put in front of the court. Diversion is granted on a record, and the record is built, not assumed.
The elements, presumptions and instruction references — folded so the page stays a page. General information only; confirm against current statute before relying on any of it.
CALCRIM 2304
CALCRIM 2302, 2300
Go deeper
The pages below go charge by charge. Each will carry the same structure as this one: what it is in plain English, what it carries, and where it is fought.
HS 11350
Simple possession A misdemeanour for most defendants after Prop 47 — and the classic diversion case. Page in preparation
HS 11351
Possession for sale The indicia case. The allegation that closes the diversion door, so it is contested first. Page in preparation
HS 11352
Transportation Movement for sale, not for personal use — a distinction with years attached. Page in preparation
HS 11359
Marijuana offenses Post-legalisation, what remains criminal is narrower than most people assume. Page in preparation
PC 1000
Pretrial diversion The route that ends in dismissal — requested at the front of the case. Page in preparation
HS 11550
Under the influence A misdemeanour with its own diversion path and its own defences. Page in preparation
Common questions
For most defendants, simple possession has been a misdemeanour since Proposition 47. Possession for sale, transportation and cases involving certain priors remain felonies, which is why the sale allegation is contested before anything else.
It is pretrial diversion for eligible personal-use offenses: the case is deferred while you complete education or treatment, and on completion the charge is dismissed. It is requested at the front of the case, not after a plea.
Evidence obtained through an unlawful stop, search or interrogation can be suppressed under Penal Code 1538.5. Where the suppressed evidence is the case, dismissal often follows — but every motion turns on its own record.
Not by itself. Those are indicia the People argue from; intent to sell is the element they must prove. Personal-use quantity, how the items are actually used, and the absence of sale activity are all evidence on the other side.
Drug offenses carry some of the most serious immigration consequences in California law, and a disposition that looks minor can still be damaging. Any plea in this area should be assessed for immigration consequence before it is entered.
Nothing is required. Most useful: the citation or case number, any court dates, the property receipt, and anything you remember about the stop — where, when, what was said, and what you were asked.
The search and the window · both close early
The first conversation is free, confidential, and with Aaron — not an intake service. We will tell you in the first minutes whether the search is worth fighting and whether diversion is still open.
Draft — pending firm verification
Prepared 28 July 2026 by ByteZero Marketing for review by the Law Office of Aaron P. McAllister.
Primary sources: Health & Saf. Code §§ 11350, 11351, 11352, 11359, 11377, 11550; Pen. Code §§ 1000, 1538.5, 17(b); Prop 47 (2014); CALCRIM 2300, 2302, 2304.
Figures are statutory ranges and are affected by priors, enhancements, and county practice.
Nothing on this page is legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created by reading it.
To be revisited if the statutes, jury instructions, or county procedures change.