187 results for 'cat:"Drug Offender" AND cat:"Search"'.
J. Jackson finds that the trial court properly denied a juvenile's motion to suppress firearms found in the car he was driving. A marijuana blunt in plain sight during a valid traffic stop gave police probable cause to search the car. Open containers of marijuana in a moving motor vehicle are unlawful, marijuana in blunt form is an open container since the wrapping paper does not present a barrier to accessing it and minors may not possess any amount of marijuana. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Jackson, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: A167331, Categories: drug Offender, Juvenile Law, search
J. Corrigan finds that the trial court should have suppressed the methamphetamine and revolver police found in defendant's car as the products of an unlawful search. His presence in a high crime area at night, ducking out of sight, fiddling with his shoes and refusing to acknowledge police officers are factors that police are not required to ignore. But they were not acts of outright evasion and did not combine to support an articulable and reasonable suspicion that he was involved in illegal conduct. Reversed.
Court: California Supreme Court, Judge: Corrigan, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: S267522, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, search
J. Lagoa finds that the district court properly convicted defendant of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and a related conspiracy offense. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions. The district court correctly sentenced defendant to 60 months in prison, correctly instructed the jury on deliberate ignorance and properly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence of cocaine taken from his vehicle by an FBI informant without a warrant. The automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement applied in this instance. There was a reasonable probability that the informant would find the cocaine where the co-defendant told him to look in the passenger seat of defendant's car. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Lagoa, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-12988, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Welbaum finds legislation to legalize recreational marijuana and allow individuals to cultivate marijuana plants at their homes did not de-criminalize conduct that occurred before it was put into effect and, in any case, defendant's conviction for possession of several plants was based on plants visible from the outside of his home, conduct still prohibited under the new laws. Meanwhile, defendant's consent to allow police to search his home negates any claim for ineffective assistance of counsel because a motion to suppress the results of the search would have been unsuccessful. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welbaum, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1609, Categories: drug Offender, Ineffective Assistance, search
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J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant on drug charges and of being a felon in possession of a firearm after searching a stolen car and finding his belongings inside. Defendant has no evidence to support his claim he did not know the rental car was stolen, especially as the license plates had been switched out. Further, he had no expectation of privacy in the safes located in the stolen car. Even if he did, the automobile exception to the warrant requirement applies as officers had ample reason to believe the car held contraband. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 23-1364, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Gratton finds that the trial court properly refused to suppress drugs and a firearm in defendant's home during a probation search prompted by a confidential tip. A probation agreement authorized law enforcement officers other than his own probation officer to conduct searches, and he did not preserve his challenge to the validity of the agreement or his claim that his probation officer must first request that he submit to a search. Also, the trial court's error in sustaining an objection to part of defendant's closing argument was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gratton, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 50051, Categories: drug Offender, Probation, search
J. Wozniak finds the trial court improperly granted the defendant’s motion to suppress his items found and seized during a traffic stop. He alleges there was no probable cause for the stop after being charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of cocaine and resisting an officer without violence. The officer pulled defendant over for excessive dark window tint, which is a noncriminal violation; he smelled marijuana upon approaching the vehicle, so there was probable cause to search the vehicle and seize the items found. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Wozniak, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 6D23-2396, Categories: drug Offender, search, Resisting Arrest
J. Stevens upholds defendant's drug conviction and 40-year sentence. He argues that, since he was only staying at the apartment temporarily and was not the sole occupant of the apartment, the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knowingly possessed methamphetamine. However, "the logical force of the evidence strongly links” defendant to the illegal drug. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 06-23-223, Categories: drug Offender, Evidence, search
J. Tallman finds that the district court properly denied a motion to suppress evidence after a California parolee was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, fluorofentanyl and cocaine. The California Highway Patrol did not violate the Fourth Amendment in their search of defendant's cell phone during a traffic stop, made possible by the officers’ forced use of his thumb to unlock the device. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Tallman, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 22-50262, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Thyer finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for trafficking fentanyl, theft, and other drug and firearms charges. Following a traffic stop, dashcam video shows defendant was acting nervously when asked about potential illegal items that might be in the vehicle. Sufficient evidence shows that though defendant was not seen in actual or constructive possession of drugs found in her daughter’s shorts, she admitted to constructive possession. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thyer , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: CR-23-562, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, search
J. Zachary finds that the trial court properly declined to suppress evidence discovered in defendant's vehicle based on a tip that a handgun had been observed in plain view of a Dodge Charger parked near various nightclubs because the fact that industrial hemp has been legalized did not diminish the significance of the contention that police detected the odor of marijuana while approaching the vehicle. Affirmed.
Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals, Judge: Zachary, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: COA23-568, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, search
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of drug trafficking after denying his motion to suppress evidence recovered in a search of his garbage, which found cocaine residue on a pair of gloves and supported a full search of his house. Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the garbage found in cans on the street awaiting trash pickup. Further, he had no right to confront the state's confidential source whose voice is heard during the controlled buy video. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 23-1615, Categories: Confrontation, drug Offender, search
J. Abele finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress in his guilty-plea case to trafficking in cocaine. His failure to use headlights at night gave the arresting officer probable cause to initiate a traffic stop, while his story he intended to stay in West Virginia for several days - one contradicted by his rental car agreement, which required the return of the vehicle to Chicago the following day - was enough to establish probable cause for a search with the officer's canine unit. Although the "field test" weight of the cocaine found in defendant's vehicle differed from that established by subsequent lab tests, the trial court properly admitted the cocaine into evidence because the prosecution established a proper chain of custody and the weight discrepancy was addressed by an expert witness at trial. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abele, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1460, Categories: drug Offender, Evidence, search
[Consolidated.] J. Nalbandian finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence of drugs and a loaded gun found during the search of his girlfriend's car. He failed to establish an expectation of privacy when he was detained in the passenger seat of her car. Defendant did not own and was not driving the vehicle at the time of his arrest, and actually told the officers several times he was not driving prior to the search, all of which prevented him from proving he had control over the vehicle. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Nalbandian, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 22-1432, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, search
J. Stone finds that defendant was properly convicted of possession of marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and illegal carrying of weapons while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance. In this case, the police properly stopped defendant as he was walking into a gas station convenience store because the officers observed him with an assault rifle in his pant leg. Further, there were recent robberies in the area and a concern that defendant was committing a robbery. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Stone, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 55,581-KA, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, search
J. Erickson finds the lower court properly declined to suppress 66 pills, methamphetamine, and marijuana in defendant's trial for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Defendant, who entered a conditional plea, contends the court improperly ruled that the search of his backpack had been voluntary, but evidence indicates that the mother of defendant's child was entitled to turn over the backpack, and that she consented to the search because her phone was inside. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Erickson, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 23-2179, Categories: drug Offender, Evidence, search
[Consolidated.] J. Garry finds that the lower court should have suppressed cocaine and heroin discovered in a strip search in his trial for possessing drugs because he had been subjected to an unlawful body cavity search in which drugs had been pulled from his rectum, an intrusion that had not been specified in the warrant. Meanwhile, exigent circumstances did not exist. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Garry, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 112053, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Aarons finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant based on her guilty plea to drug possession after a box containing cocaine was discovered during a traffic stop. Defendant contends the state trooper coerced her into agreeing to the search, but her verbal and written consent was deemed voluntary. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Aarons, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 113534, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Brennan reverses the suppression of 50 vials of THC and the defendant’s admission that he was doing something wrong to make some extra money. The police detective who stopped the defendant acted on a reasonable suspicion when he stopped him, based on the detective’s extensive background observing and intercepting drug transactions, and the seller and defendant’s behavior.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 23-P-358, Categories: drug Offender, Evidence, search
J. Nelson finds that the district court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress methamphetamine found during an officer’s inventory search of his backpack. The police may constitutionally conduct an inventory search of belongings when the property is lawfully retained and the search is done in compliance with police regulations, even after the individual has been released. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Nelson, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 21-30251, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Bevan finds the trial court properly refused to suppress methamphetamine found during a traffic stop. Police had a sufficiently reasonable suspicion of improperly secured hazardous materials to pull over defendant's semitrailer for safety purposes. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Supreme Court, Judge: Bevan, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 48808, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Virden finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for meth possession with the purpose to deliver based on sufficient evidence. An officer staking out a known drug house saw defendant pull up in his vehicle, stopped him, and found baggies with meth on his person. Furthermore, a search of his vehicle yielded various amounts of meth, as well as baggies. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Virden , Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: CR-23-337, Categories: drug Offender, Evidence, search
J. Dietz finds that the trial court improperly ruled regarding a motion to suppress drug evidence found during a warrantless search. The trial court failed to make the necessary findings. The case is remanded back to the court for further proceedings. Reversed
Court: North Carolina Supreme Court, Judge: Dietz, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 124PA22, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Arrowood finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant for possession of methamphetamine. Even if the officer's initial search of defendant and seizure of a pill bottle violated defendant's constitutional rights, the methamphetamine found in his boot was still admissible because its discovery was inevitable. Defendant still would have been arrested for driving with a revoked license and subsequently searched.
Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals, Judge: Arrowood, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: COA23-727, Categories: drug Offender, search
J. Connolly affirms the district court's denial of the defendant's motion to suppress evidence in her controlled-substances case, finding that police's search of her garbage was not a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. The defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in her garbage, nor did a search of the trash constitute a trespass on the curtilage of her premises. Additionally, local ordinances banning inspection and removal of garbage do not enlarge the Fourth Amendment's protections or those under the Minnesota Constitution. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Connolly, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: A23-0428, Categories: Constitution, drug Offender, search