Post by WaTcHeR on Sept 11, 2006 9:36:02 GMT -5
CHARGES DISMISSED IN CASE LINKED TO RELIABILITY OF DRUG DOG
2000 - A federal judge dismissed a drug charge Thursday against a Virginia couple after a federal prosecutor requested the charge be dropped. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugh Ward's motion asking for the charge to be dismissed without prejudice against David M. Stonebreaker, 34, and Pamela L. Whitmore Stonebreaker, 32, did not specify the reasons.
But earlier this month U.S. District Judge Leon Jordan denied Ward's request to reconsider a May 14 decision to suppress as evidence 560 pounds of marijuana seized from a motor home the couple occupied last summer, as well as statements they made about the drugs.
The judge had based his decision on a finding that Falco, a German shepherd used as a drug-sniffing dog by the Knox County Sheriff's Department, is wrong more times than he's right when searching vehicles in the field.
"We won't appeal the decision of Judge Jordan to suppress the evidence," Ward said. "If on further investigation, if we develop grounds other than the issue relating to the suppression of evidence, we will pursue those."
Without prejudice means the charge can be brought again at a later date. "Mrs. Stonebreaker is very pleased the government has seen fit to cease the prosecution of her," said her attorney, James Varner.
He also said they're pleased the government decided not to appeal the case, but they believe the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would have agreed with Jordan.
"As attorneys for Mr. Stonebreaker and as citizens concerned with the preservation of our Constitution, we are pleased with the ruling of the Court and the decision of the ( U.S. ) Attorney's Office not to appeal the ruling," attorney Bob Ritchie wrote in a statement about the dismissal of the charge. Ritchie and attorney Richard Gaines represented David Stonebreaker.
"As attorneys for Mr. Stonebreaker, we are pleased that he will have the opportunity to rebuild his life without the burden of a criminal conviction," Ritchie added. "As ( citizens ), we appreciate the courage of the Court in making a ruling that recognizes and preserves the Constitution."
An indictment returned the day the couple married charged the Stonebreakers with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute it. The charge stemmed from an Aug. 31 traffic stop of their motor home near the West Town Mall. While the couple were detained, the drug dog Falco indicated he detected the odor of narcotics, and officers searched the recreational vehicle and found the pot, according to earlier court testimony.
Varner said he knows of no other cases where a court rejected the dog's alert as a basis for probable cause, based on a low accuracy rate. Testimony showed Falco alerted, indicating the presence of narcotics, 225 times between 1998 and 2000, but officers found drugs only 80 times. Ward asked Jordan to reconsider his ruling on the grounds that records from Falco's controlled training show a 70 percent accuracy rate.
Jordan has said the dog's reliability must be determined by its accuracy rate in the field. U.S. District Judge James Jarvis has said using controlled searches, which consist of a handler hiding drugs in a location and then recording the dog's performance in finding it, is the true measure of the dog's ability.
www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n1376.a08.html
2000 - A federal judge dismissed a drug charge Thursday against a Virginia couple after a federal prosecutor requested the charge be dropped. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugh Ward's motion asking for the charge to be dismissed without prejudice against David M. Stonebreaker, 34, and Pamela L. Whitmore Stonebreaker, 32, did not specify the reasons.
But earlier this month U.S. District Judge Leon Jordan denied Ward's request to reconsider a May 14 decision to suppress as evidence 560 pounds of marijuana seized from a motor home the couple occupied last summer, as well as statements they made about the drugs.
The judge had based his decision on a finding that Falco, a German shepherd used as a drug-sniffing dog by the Knox County Sheriff's Department, is wrong more times than he's right when searching vehicles in the field.
"We won't appeal the decision of Judge Jordan to suppress the evidence," Ward said. "If on further investigation, if we develop grounds other than the issue relating to the suppression of evidence, we will pursue those."
Without prejudice means the charge can be brought again at a later date. "Mrs. Stonebreaker is very pleased the government has seen fit to cease the prosecution of her," said her attorney, James Varner.
He also said they're pleased the government decided not to appeal the case, but they believe the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would have agreed with Jordan.
"As attorneys for Mr. Stonebreaker and as citizens concerned with the preservation of our Constitution, we are pleased with the ruling of the Court and the decision of the ( U.S. ) Attorney's Office not to appeal the ruling," attorney Bob Ritchie wrote in a statement about the dismissal of the charge. Ritchie and attorney Richard Gaines represented David Stonebreaker.
"As attorneys for Mr. Stonebreaker, we are pleased that he will have the opportunity to rebuild his life without the burden of a criminal conviction," Ritchie added. "As ( citizens ), we appreciate the courage of the Court in making a ruling that recognizes and preserves the Constitution."
An indictment returned the day the couple married charged the Stonebreakers with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute it. The charge stemmed from an Aug. 31 traffic stop of their motor home near the West Town Mall. While the couple were detained, the drug dog Falco indicated he detected the odor of narcotics, and officers searched the recreational vehicle and found the pot, according to earlier court testimony.
Varner said he knows of no other cases where a court rejected the dog's alert as a basis for probable cause, based on a low accuracy rate. Testimony showed Falco alerted, indicating the presence of narcotics, 225 times between 1998 and 2000, but officers found drugs only 80 times. Ward asked Jordan to reconsider his ruling on the grounds that records from Falco's controlled training show a 70 percent accuracy rate.
Jordan has said the dog's reliability must be determined by its accuracy rate in the field. U.S. District Judge James Jarvis has said using controlled searches, which consist of a handler hiding drugs in a location and then recording the dog's performance in finding it, is the true measure of the dog's ability.
www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n1376.a08.html