Pubdate: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 Source: Mobile Register (AL) Copyright: 2004 Mobile Register. Contact: http://www.al.com/mobileregister/today/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/269 Author: Brendan Kirby COUPLE PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG TRAFFICKING Agreement Comes After Judge Denies Request To Throw Out Evidence BAY MINETTE -- A Spanish Fort couple have pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking after a judge denied their request to throw out evidence that police seized from their apartment. As part of the plea, Jason Allen Garza, 28, and Farrah Joan Garza, 26, will be able to appeal Baldwin County Presiding Circuit Judge James Reid's decision on the search. The case was the first in Baldwin since the U.S. Supreme Court clarified how long police must wait before breaking into a home to execute a search warrant. Reid sided with prosecutors, who argued that members of the Baldwin County Drug Task Force acted appropriately when they seized 9.24 pounds of marijuana from the apartment in May 2002. Reid on Thursday sentenced each defendant to a split 10-year sentence, with three years in prison and seven years suspended. They each will have to serve five years' probation when they get out of prison and also must pay the minimum fine -- $50,000 each. Reid on Friday reduced the couple's bond to $10,000 each. They will be able to stay out of prison while they appeal Reid's decision that the search was legal. "I don't think of the Bill of Rights as technical. I think of it as basic," said defense attorney Tom Haas. "Even in Baldwin County, it's basic." Drug Task Force agents testified that they knocked on the door several times, saw the window blinds move and then broke open the door. Farrah Garza testified that officers burst in almost immediately after knocking. The December Supreme Court decision stated that 15 to 20 seconds was a reasonable amount of time for police in that case to wait before they broke into the residence. But the justices said the courts must evaluate the issue case by case, based on the specific facts. Assistant District Attorney Matt Green said the Baldwin case was different because police saw movement from inside the apartment and had reason to believe the drugs might be flushed down the toilet. "The Fourth Amendment is not relegated to a constitutional stopwatch," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin