MOTION TO SUPPRESS GRANTED AND MOBILE COUNTY DRUG CHARGES DISMISSED
A client’s Mobile County drug charges were dismissed with prejudice after Bradford Ladner successfully won a motion to suppress evidence illegally seized with a search warrant. The client faced numerous drug charges and drug paraphrenalia charges after the Mobile City Police Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at the client’s home.
Bradford Ladner attorney William K. “Chip” Bradford filed a motion to suppress all evidence seized when the search warrant was executed at the home based on the search warrant being defective. When police applied for the search warrant they failed to be as specific as the law required as to the infomation relied on in asking for the search warrant. Although the police affidavit mentioned information alleged to have been received from a “confidential informant,” the affidavit failed to state that the information was recent as opposed to stale information. Bradford argued that the affidavit used by police to secure the search warrant was defective because it did not supply sufficient specific information on which to base the search warrant.
Under the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the information relied on by law enforcement must be recent information, and cannot be so old that the likelihood of finding drugs is low or non-existant. After a hearing conducted in the Mobile County Alabama Circuit Court, the Circuit Court Judge ruled that the search warrant was defective because it was not properly supported. As a result, the judge ruled that all evidence seized by law enforcement was suppressed and granted Bradford’s motion to suppress. As a result of the suppression of the evidence, the judge also granted Bradford’s motion to dismiss all charges with prejudice. The end result is that our clients Mobile County drug charges were dismissed and the client was discharged free to go.
