DEFENDANT IN DRUG – RELATED OFFENSE: CASE STUDIES ON DRUG FOUND AS EVIDENCE IN THE HOUSE

Abstract

          This documentary research aimed to study the liability of a person who got involved in an offense committed at the crime scene. Also, this research intended to study the circumstances of the case in which the defendant was prosecuted due to drugs found as evidence in the house. This research was a documentary research by collecting and analyzing contents from text book, research articles, the Supreme Court decisions and the Internet. The findings revealed that a person who got involved in an offense committed by another offender in such a way that he physically took part in committing the offense, no matter how many degree he got involved in the entire offense, was convicted of being a co – offender. In addition, a person who got involved in an offense committed by another offender in such a way that he became an accomplice to the offender in perpetrating a crime, even though he did not physically take part in committing the offense, was convicted of being a co – offender, as if he did commit the offense himself. In the case of the drugs found in the house, both the house owner and his wife living in the same house, making a living together and hanging around together, were found guilty of drug co – possession with intent. However, just having knowledge of the drugs hidden in the house was insufficient to make the offender’s relative or friend staying in the same house guilty of drug co – possession with intent. The author would like to suggest people staying in a house where police are raiding during a drug search that they should not run away from the police, should not help the police find out where the drugs were hidden and should not help destroy the evidence (drugs). Lastly, they should try to distance themselves from the drugs as this act can lead them to affirm a plea of not guilty.