Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

hello my name is madalyn i am 17 yrs old i am in trouble for possesion of 14 xanex i have never been in trouble with the law before so this is my first offense, i hear i could get a felony and i am really scared because i have big plans for my future , you see i have a 2 year old daughter and i wanna get us out of proverty so i was woundering is there any way the judge can drop the felony to a misdaminor or something less then what i got.


Asked on 10/21/11, 9:09 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

M. Elizabeth Foley The Law Office of M. Elizabeth Foley

Actually, I think you're probably okay on this not being a felony, unless you sold them, there's some proof that you planned to sell them, or you were in a drug-free zone (school, day care center, playground, or bus). Plain possession of Xanax requires at least 28 grams worth to make it a felony, and each Xanax pill weighs a lot less than a gram (it seems like they're maybe 1/4 or 1/3 of a gram each, so you probably didn't have more than 5 grams total). Selling, having them to sell, or being in one of those drug-free areas would make that amount a state jail felony, but otherwise it's a Class A misdemeanor.

With no priors, hopefully you'll be able to get deferred adjudication. I don't think Bexar County offers pretrial diversion, but if they do now, or if this is in another county that does offer it, that's a great way to keep offenses off your record, because the case can eventually be expunged. With a deferred, you can usually get the case sealed later, but there are no guarantees on that, and the records are not sealed from everyone--law enforcement and many state agencies still have access, which can effectively block you from certain professions.

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Answered on 10/21/11, 11:20 am


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