One man was caught with some 35,000 heroin doses; officials believe that the seven pounds of heroin have a street value of approximately $700,000. Another man was pulled over for a traffic stop and arrested for possessing heroin that may have been laced with fentanyl, a substance that is linked to a recent overdose death.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Department began surveilling 47-year-old Roman Castro after they received information from an unnamed source that Mr. Castro had a significant amount of heroin concealed inside his Crystal Lake apartment. While the seized items are tested, Mr. Castro is being held in lieu of a $2 million bond.
In the other arrest, 29-year-old Paul Benzinger was pulled over following an unspecified traffic violation. Mr. Benzinger, who had recently been released from prison and was on parole at the time, allegedly had a few grams of heroin, an infinitesimal amount of crack cocaine, and drug paraphernalia on or about his person.
Drug Cases and Informers’ Tips
While this factor varies widely, it is not unusual for confidential informants in drug cases to receive thousands of dollars in exchange for information. By itself, the financial motive is normally insufficient to invalidate the tip. However, it is sufficient to trigger a more diligent inquiry into the tip’s reliability.
Some time ago, the Supreme Court eschewed an objective test to determine reliability in favor of a more subjective, totality-of-the-circumstances analysis, which considers factors like:
- Source: Anonymous tips are usually the least reliable source because individuals who do not give their names are clearly not vouching for the reliability of the information they provide. Tips from other law enforcement personnel are usually the most reliable, and everything else is somewhere in between.
- Motive: In a similar vein, people who harbour ill will against the targets are not always the best sources of information.
- Specificity: It appears that the tip in the above story identified a specific person, but many others only relate to possible criminal activity at a given location or area.
When assessing the tip’s reliability, the judge normally does not consider the results, so the prosecutor cannot argue that Mr. X’s tip must have been reliable because officers later found evidence of wrongdoing.
Drug Cases and Traffic Stops
Unless the incident is part of a drug sting, officers almost never have search warrants during traffic stops. Thus, for the evidence they seized to be admissible in court, an exception must apply. Some of the more common ones include:
- Search Incident to Arrest: Many courts will not allow invasive searches, such as scrolling through the contacts or call log on a smartphone. Moreover, not all traffic violations in the Prairie State are arrestable.
- Automobile Exception: Officers with probable cause can search a car, truck, boat or other vehicle without a warrant.
- Consent: If an officer asks for permission to search a vehicle, the driver has the constitutional right to refuse.
Moreover, for the drugs to be admissible, they must be chemically confirmed, clearly linked to the defendant, and have an uninterrupted chain of custody behind them.
Rely on Experienced Attorneys
Drug cases often involve procedural search and seizure issues. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal law attorney in Schaumburg, contact Glasgow & Olsson.
(image courtesy of Greg Rakozy)