Lothar121

Drug Conviction Reversed
Rob Moritz | Arkansas News Bureau | 05/27/2005

LITTLE ROCK - The state Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a drug conviction because the Van Buren police illegally detained a suspect before marijuana was discovered by a police dog in the trunk of his car.

The decision reverses the conviction and two-year sentence given to James Jesse Lilley. The case was ordered back to Crawford County Circuit Court for a hearing. The state Court of Appeals also reversed the conviction and sentence last year.

In December 2002, Van Buren Police Officer Michael Bowman was patrolling Interstate 40 when he saw a Chevrolet traveling eastbound. The officer stopped the vehicle after seeing it veer onto the highway's right shoulder three times.

The driver, James Jesse Lilley, appeared nervous and his hands shook, Bowman said in his arrest report. The officer said he noticed Lilley had been drinking an energy drink and there was a strong odor of air freshener in the car.

During a driver's license check, the officer learned that the car had been rented to another person, but that Lilley's name was listed as an additional driver. Lilley also showed the officer a one-way car rental agreement.

Lilley said he was from California and was going to Virginia to visit his mother for 10 days. He said he worked on a farm in California, and had no credit card, which meant another person had to rent the vehicle.

Lilley was issued a warning, and while still in the patrol car, the officer asked if he had anything illegal in his car. Bowman, who said Lilley appeared nervous, also asked if he had any guns or dead bodies in the car, the ruling states.

After Lilley smiled and said no, the officer asked if he had any marijuana in the car. Lilley's said no, Bowman said, but his response was in a softer tone.

Lilly rejected a request to search his car, but Bowman summoned a police dog that detected drugs in the trunk. Three duffle bags with several large bricks of marijuana were found and Lilley was arrested.

He later pleaded guilty to marijuana possession with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.

On appeal, Lilley argued that the marijuana should not have been used as evidence because it was found after the legitimate purpose of the traffic stop was complete. Lilley also argued that the officer did not have a reasonable suspicion that he was committing, had committed or was about to commit a felony or misdemeanor involving danger to persons or property.

The state Supreme Court unanimously agreed, saying that once the routine tasks of a traffic stop are completed the person must be let go unless the officer suspects that the person is involved in other criminal activity.

"Despite the fact that Lilley was shaking, (Lilley) did not exhibit any additional signs of nervousness, such as an inability to maintain eye contact with officer Bowman or evasiveness, prior to the conclusion of the traffic stop," Justice Robert L. Brown wrote for the court. "Accordingly, his nervousness, without any other questionable circumstances, would not constitute reasonable suspicion."

Brown also said there appeared to be nothing "inherently suspicious" about using a rental car paid for by a third party when combined with the nervousness of the suspect.

The one-way rental agreement and the air freshener odor also were not inherently suspicious enough to prompt a search.

"We hold that those factors did not give officer Bowman reasonable suspicion to detain Lilley further for a canine sniff of his car, after the traffic stop was concluded," Brown wrote.

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