Pubdate: Fri, 06 Oct 2000
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2000, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Contact:  414-224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Forum: http://www.jsonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimate.cgi
Author: Tom Kertscher

JUDGE REVERSES MAN'S COCAINE CONVICTION

Police Had No Reason To Stop Him, Judge Says

A Milwaukee man caught with cocaine after allowing police to search him has had his conviction reversed by a judge who ruled that the man could not be detained simply because he was walking quickly toward a suspected drug house.

A Milwaukee County prosecutor, however, said that the decision should have no impact on drug investigations.

"I don't think it's going to have any effect whatsoever on any other case," said Assistant District Attorney Tom McAdams.

The case involved a preliminary drug investigation conducted by Milwaukee police. In so-called knock-and-talk investigations, officers respond to complaints about suspected drug houses by visiting the house and trying to persuade the residents to allow a search of the premises.

At about 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, 1999, officers were about to conduct a knock-and-talk at a home in the 2700 block of N. 40th St. As they approached, 25-year-old Willie M. Thomas, who lived in the home, exited a running vehicle and began walking rapidly toward the home, according to court records.

Officers stopped Thomas and officer John Spence got permission from Thomas to search him. Spence found a small amount of cocaine on Thomas and took him into custody.

Lisa Lawrence, Thomas' former attorney and now a federal prosecutor in Milwaukee, filed a motion that would have prevented prosecutors from using the cocaine as evidence against Thomas. She argued that officers did not have reasonable suspicion to search him, but Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Richard Sankovitz denied the motion.

Thomas then pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession. He was sentenced to 120 days in the House of Correction, but he remained free while making his appeal.

Assistant District Attorney David Weber argued that although Thomas "stopped short of headlong flight," his rapid walking toward the home was an attempt to evade officers.

But Judge Charles Schudson of the 1st District Court of Appeals in Milwaukee rejected the arguments last week, ruling that Sankovitz should not have allowed the cocaine to be used as evidence. Schudson reversed Thomas' cocaine possession conviction.

Police can stop and detain a person only if they have a "suspicion grounded in specific, articulable facts" that the person is committing or is about to commit a crime, Schudson wrote in his decision - but this case didn't meet that test.

McAdams said it was unlikely that prosecutors would try to revive the case against Thomas.
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