Pubdate: Fri, 31 Dec 2004
Source: Bonner County Daily Bee (ID)
Copyright: 2004 The Bonner County Daily Bee
Contact:  http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3628
Author: Keith Kinnaird, News editor

AGENTS DID NOT VIOLATE KNOCK-AND-ANNOUNCE RULE

SANDPOINT -- Drug agents did not violate a knock-and-announce rule
when they raided a Sandpoint windshield repair business that
authorities allege was a front for a cocaine-dealing operation,
District Judge Steve Verby ruled on Thursday.Verby also found there
was sufficient probable cause to justify a search warrant for Craig
Alan Bloom's business.

Bloom's defense counsel, Fred Palmer, argues Sundance Drug Task Force
agents improperly entered the Glassworks Auto Glass shop in a Michigan
Street strip mall on Jan. 7. Palmer also contends the search warrant
was faulty because it was based on testimony from an informant who
lacks any credibility.

Undercover agent Jason Slinger, according to court testimony,
pretended to be a customer when he entered the business and rushed
Bloom when he was spotted near the shop area. Slinger testified on
Thursday he did not ask permission to be in the shop, but added he
didn't open any doors and saw no signs indicating the shop section was
a restricted area.

Upon seeing Bloom, Slinger said he simultaneously drew his Glock
semiautomatic pistol, announced that it was a police search and
crossed the threshold separating the shop from the customer waiting
area.

Bloom, 46, was arrested and charged with cocaine trafficking after
agents discovered 2 ounces of the drug and $34,000 in cash in the business.

Jack Leon Campbell, who was working for Bloom when the raid took
place, testified there were no signs stating the shop area was open to
the public, but said it was not uncommon for people to enter the
business through a shop entrance.

But Verby found that Slinger did not violate the knock-and-announce
provision because it was a business, not a dwelling. He also noted
there were no signs forbidding people from entering the shop area and
agents did not have to force their way into any part of the business.

Moreover, Verby concluded there was enough evidence to justify a
search warrant.

Bloom's six-day trial on the trafficking charge is scheduled to begin
on Feb. 7. He is also charged with solicitation to commit murder for
allegedly attempting to hire a hitman to kill the informant who
supplied investigators with the information that lead to the raid.
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