Pubdate: Wed, 16 Jan 2008
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2008 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.sptimes.com/home.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author: Colleen Jenkins, Times Staff Writer
Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our 
editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who 
have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise 
public figures or officials.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States0
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

ILLEGAL STOP PUTS DRUG CHARGES IN DOUBT

A Judge Throws Out Evidence a Detective Found in Two Arrests.

TAMPA - In May, a Hillsborough sheriff's detective found seven 
freezer bags of marijuana, several bags of cocaine, drug 
paraphernalia and $7,000 in the bed of [redacted]'s truck.

Prosecutors won't be able to use any of the evidence at trial.

Circuit Judge Debra Behnke has thrown it all out, saying Detective 
Jason Himmel made an illegal stop.

"The official misconduct in this case was extreme," she said.

Without the evidence, attorneys for [redacted], expect the 
Hillsborough State Attorney's Office will have little choice but to 
drop the charges against two men with multiple prior arrests on their records.

"The state cannot move forward without the drug evidence," said 
[redacted]'s attorney, John Trevena.

That decision won't be made until prosecutors receive a copy of 
Behnke's Thursday order, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said.

Himmel, an auto theft detective, had just finished his shift May 30 
when he spotted [redacted]'s truck hauling three motorbikes on a 
trailer on Falkenburg Road. The detective wondered if they were stolen.

When the truck entered a gated storage facility using an entry code, 
Himmel followed.

Inside, Himmel blocked in the truck. The detective asked for 
permission to inspect the motorbikes' ID numbers. [redacted], agreed. 
Then Himmel thought he smelled marijuana. He searched [redacted], 
found nothing and called for backup.

After other deputies arrived, Himmel spotted the drugs and money in the truck.

Behnke determined that [redacted] did not feel free to leave the 
storage facility, nor did they voluntarily consent to a search of the 
truck and trailer.

The detective, she said, did not have permission to enter the storage 
facility, which was private property, and had no reason to believe 
the bikes were stolen.

Because an "illegal search" followed, the judge said, the evidence 
must be suppressed. Prosecutors could appeal the ruling. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake