Criminal Charge: Trafficking in Illegal Drugs and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
Case: State of Oklahoma v. Russell Kash Weil
Court: [Choctaw County][CF-13-69]
Result: Both Counts Dismissed
Summary:
Choctaw County [OK] law enforcement presented the District Judge with an affidavit for a search warrant of Mr. Weil’s home. The affidavit alleged an identified juvenile was arrested for pot possession, and when he went to jail he told the jailer he had seen all kinds of drugs in Mr. Weil’s home. He did not say when. Judge Wolf issued the search warrant.
Cops searched his home, claimed they recovered a large amount of illegal drugs and charged Mr. Weil with distribution of drugs and simple possession of drugs.
Mr. Weil hired a lawyer from Durant, OK who talked him into waiving his preliminary hearing, waiving his right to a jury trial and pleading guilty in exchange for a five-year sentence. However, before he pled guilty, Mr. Weil fired that attorney and hired Mr. Haslam. Haslam immediately moved to recover his rights to the hearing and a jury trial and rejected the plea deal.
After reviewing the police reports and the warrant paperwork, Haslam filed a motion to suppress the search warrant and the fruits of the search. In retaliation, the prosecutor increased the charge to trafficking of illegal drugs, a charge that carries up to life in prison. At the evidentiary hearing on the motion to suppress, the State offered the testimony of the cop who authored the warrant affidavit. Citing the law that requires an affidavit for a search warrant to include the time a witness allegedly saw contraband at premises before the warrant may lawfully issue, Haslam argued the warrant was illegal and all the fruits of the search had to be excluded from evidence. Judge Brock agreed and the Court DISMISSED THE CASE.