Background
While under investigation for having smoked cannabis, our client was also charged with the far graver offense of "importing cannabis covertly for sale (smuggling for profit)" and was indicted in custody. Smuggling cannabis for profit is a serious offense carrying a statutory penalty of death, life imprisonment or imprisonment of ten years or more.
What Was at Stake
Our client admitted to smoking cannabis but insisted they had never smuggled it. Because the two carry entirely different weights of punishment, whether the "smuggling" element was found determined the sentence.
How Changchun Helped
Changchun examined the investigation record closely and argued forcefully that the evidence relating to smoking and possession must be kept strictly separate from the evidence relating to smuggling; that there was no clear evidence establishing smuggling for profit; and that the circumstances in fact pointed away from smuggling.
The court acquitted our client of the cannabis smuggling charge, and our client was released on a suspended sentence. The case shows that contesting each charge separately within the same matter can prevent excessive punishment. (Outcomes depend on the facts of each case and may differ.)