A woman has been jailed and her child taken into protective custody after police executed a search warrant for her home on April 17. The 21-year-old woman was arrested by the West Central Illinois Task Force and faces a drug charge of alleged unlawful possession of both methamphetamines and marijuana. Her child, 3 months old, was removed from the premises and taken into protective custody.
Reports indicate that law enforcement officials obtained a warrant to search the home of the defendant. Upon entering the domicile, they allegedly found cannabis and methamphetamine at the rear of the apartment. The defendant was subsequently arrested and is now being lodged in a local jail awaiting trial.
The baby girl found in the apartment, who is the defendant’s daughter, has apparently been placed with a family member during legal proceedings. Police have suggested that more arrests pertaining to this case may be forthcoming. Their investigation is ongoing as police gather more evidence.
A drug charge involving possession is not always easy to prove in a court of law. In Illinois, the burden of proof is always on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that substances that are found in a residence were indeed illicit drugs, and that those were the property of a specific defendant. Any defense mounted against such a charge may benefit from an understanding of Illinois state laws as they pertain to drug possession and the statutes on how much of a given substance is required for a possession charge to be laid.
Source: Quincy Herald-Whig, “Woman arrested on drug charges after search on South Fifth,” April 17, 2013