DEFENDANTS CONTEST LEGALITY OF STOP

A Knox County Sheriff's Department sergeant testified Monday he began
following a motor home along Interstate 40 this past summer to see if he
could stop it for a traffic violation.

Sgt. John Wilson said he did stop the 1991 Fleetwood motor home on Aug. 31
after it ran a red light while turning onto Kingston Pike from the West
Hills exit.

During a subsequent search of the vehicle, he and other deputies seized 560
pounds of marijuana, and the vehicle's occupants confessed to transporting
large quantities of marijuana from the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas to the
Washington, D.C., area, according to court papers filed by U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration Special Agent David Lewis.

But lawyers for David M. Stonebreaker, 33, and Pamela L. Whitmore
Stonebreaker, 32, of Virginia asked U.S. Magistrate Thomas Phillips on
Monday to toss out the evidence because Wilson didn't have probable cause
to make the stop.

An indictment returned the day the couple married charged them with
conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana.

Whitmore, who now uses the name Stonebreaker but was referred to as
Whitmore during Monday's hearing, disputed Wilson's testimony that she told
the sergeant the light was yellow when he informed her of the reason for
the stop. She testified that when Wilson said he had stopped her for
running a red light, she had replied, "No sir, I most certainly did not."

She testified the light was green when she entered the intersection, but
Wilson testified the light was yellow and turned red as the vehicle
proceeded through it.

A state traffic engineer testifying for the defense also said he believed
the light was green when Whitmore entered the intersection. He said he
based his opinion on his knowledge that the traffic light remains yellow
for four seconds and on his review of a videotape of the incident recorded
by equipment in Wilson's patrol car. The videotape was played for Phillips.

Defense attorney Richard Gaines questioned the accuracy of the dog used
during the search, a German shepherd named Falco. Gaines and defense
attorney James Varner also questioned Wilson about his initial interest in
the motor home, which the sergeant said piqued his interest partly because
Whitmore made eye-contact as she passed him on I-40 while he was completing
an unrelated traffic stop.

Phillips said he would rule after the lawyers file additional paperwork.
The couple will remain free on $20,000 bonds pending a Feb. 27 trial. They
each face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine.