Mitigation of punishment for offenses under the BtMG
Can you mitigate a punishment?
What are the options?
In practice, there are cases in which the lawyer will campaign for an acquittal and apply for this as part of his pleading. However, there are also cases in which the goal of the criminal defense is the lowest possible or moderate conviction. In these cases one speaks of the so-called "punitive defense"Or"sentencing defense". In particular, when the evidence is overwhelming and an acquittal and the termination of the procedure are excluded, the lawyer will often advise his client to "damage control" to operate.
In the case of infringement of the Narcotics Act (BtMG), such a situation could arise if the client was caught in the context of a police check or a lawful house search with narcotic drugs, at least as a result of the suspected possession of narcotics in the room.
Then the task of the defense lawyer is often to work out all the positive aspects and to present them to the court in order to achieve the lowest possible conviction. On the one hand, positive aspects can result from the narcotic, but on the other hand also from the person of the offender as well as his behavior at night.
Mitigation charges in connection with the narcotics
Arguments that can be put forward in the context of a punitive defense by the lawyer, are include:
- the amount of narcotics: a small amount of narcotic will always have a positive effect
- the quality of the narcotics: both the active substance content and the purity of the narcotics are of crucial importance for the sentencing. Narcotic mixtures of poor quality exhibit usually a less dangerous
- the guarantee of narcotics: if the narcotics are ensured, this will result in the risk of further drug users being excluded
Mitigating considerations relating to the person of the offender
In the context of punishment defense also the behavior of the offender after the act will be of considerable importance. So can confession and therapy readiness often the crucial points for parole. In addition, with Section 31 of the BtMG ("leniency") Further mitigating grounds, whereby the client should be informed in this regard about the conditions and about the consequences of this rule by his lawyer.
If the client has not yet appeared in the police, this must also be mentioned and taken into account by the court.
In any case, it is advisable to contact a lawyer as early as possible, since if positive aspects already exist, the termination of the procedure can already be achieved during the preliminary investigation.
If you also have questions about criminal law, do not hesitate to contact us. Our Lawyer Alexander Greithaner specializes in the field of criminal law and will also help you.
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