Criminal Charge: Manufacturing Methamphetamine
Case: State v. Sherry Day et al
Court: [CF-02-1485, Tulsa County]
Result: Case Dismissed
Summary:
One of my favorite cases, Ms. Day and her spouse were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and endangering their two children by having the meth lab near the kids.
The facts in this case are remarkable. Numerous Tulsa County Drug Task Force agents dressed in full task force gear stormed onto the Day property early one morning. The entire family was inside asleep. The agents shouted they had an arrest warrant issued by a Tulsa County juvenile court because Sherry’s spouse failed to appear at a court date involving one of their sons. The agents demanded the entire family exit the home, and the agents alleged that when they complied, they saw something through the open door that looked like a meth lab. They went inside and searched the home…without a search warrant.
Finding it curious that the Drug Task Force was sent to execute a warrant for failure to appear at a juvenile hearing, Haslam unearthed the so-called warrant and found it had been recalled weeks earlier: the authorities were executing a warrant that was invalid as a matter of law. The court granted Haslam’s motion to suppress the search and dismissed the cases against both Ms. Day and her husband, and the Days are now prosperous business owners, successfully raising two fine sons.