ELYRIA — An appeals court recently upheld a decision that a Highway Patrol trooper conducted an illegal search of an Illinois man’s car, thereby making the duffle bag of marijuana found in the trunk inadmissible as evidence.
Jose Duran was stopped by troopers for speeding on the Ohio Turnpike in Lorain County in October 2009. While another trooper was finishing a background check on Duran, the trooper, who was part of a K-9 unit, walked his dog around the vehicle and the dog alerted at the front passenger door. When the trooper searched the area, however, he found nothing, according to court records.
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The trooper then searched the rest of the vehicle, ultimately finding a duffle bag containing 31 pounds of marijuana in the back of the car, court documents state.
In its decision, the 9th District Court of Appeals stated because the officer found no contraband in the only place the dog alerted to — the front passenger seat — the trooper did not have probable cause to search the rest of the vehicle, and the marijuana evidence was not admissible in court.
Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Betleski ruled in March 2011 to suppress the marijuana evidence based on an illegal search. The state appealed that decision to the appeals court, which affirmed the judge’s decision.
