Criminal Charge: Possession of Marijuana
Case: State v. Thirman McDaniel
Court: [CF-02-6176, Tulsa County]
Result: Case Dismissed
Summary:
Mr. McDaniel was peacefully watching a football game at a friend’s apartment when the Tulsa PD literally stormed in and forced everyone to the ground in handcuffs. Armed with a search warrant ONLY for the premises of the apartment, the police also searched the person of all the people inside. They allegedly found a small amount of drugs in Mr. McDaniel’s jeans pocket.
At the preliminary hearing, Haslam explained to the prosecutor that several cases – including Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85 [1979], Beeler v. State [1984 OK CR 55] and Bell v. State [1980 OK CR 15] – stand for the principle that law enforcement simply cannot search third parties present at the premises to be searched pursuant to a search warrant just because they are present, even if contraband is found on the premises.
The prosecutor dismissed the case before calling a single witness.