In Arizona, a drive-by shooting crime is considered a Class 2 felony and is considered a highly dangerous offense because of the use of a deadly weapon. This type of crime is punishable by a minimum of 7 years in prison and up to 21 years in prison for a first offense. If a person has a previous history of dangerous felony crime convictions, then prison sentences bump up to a minimum of 14 years in prison up to 28 years in prison.
Needless to say, being charged with a drive-by shooting crime is a serious offense. Fortunately, a drive-by shooting lawyer does have several possible defense strategies they can use when defending a client.
The most common of these is the misidentification of a suspect. In drive-by shootings there are often multiple occupants in a vehicle, and the police may not always be able to accurately identify who actually pulled the trigger. Even when witnesses come forward, there are ways to challenge their stories in such a way as to raise reasonable doubt. Many times, in a strong cross-examination during a trial, a witness may cave in or otherwise have doubts cast upon their ability to accurately identify a shooter.
Also, sometimes the police use gun residue found on a defendant’s hands as a way to help them make their case. A defense attorney can always counter this possible evidence if they can show that the gun was handed off to an individual after a shooting incident. Residue can be left behind on anyone’s hand who touches the gun.
At other times, as part of a plea bargaining negotiation, if may be possible to get prosecutors to agree to lesser charges such as Misconduct Involving a Weapon or the Unlawful Discharge of a Weapon which are less severe charges than can result in lesser punishments.
Ryan Garvey Attorneys proudly serves clients in Phoenix, Tempe, Glendale, Scottsdale, Mesa and surrounding Arizona communities