STATE APPEALS COURT REVERSES TWO DRUG CONVICTIONS

Two Minnesota drug convictions were reversed Tuesday by the state
Appeals Court, which ruled in separate cases that police didn't have
enough justification for search warrants.

In one case, a Winnebago man's conviction for making and selling
methamphetamine was overturned.

The three-judge panel decided that the warrant that led to Rick Allen
Rochefort's arrest last year was based on information from
confidential informants whose reliability could not be established,
and on Rochefort's purchase of iodine crystal, a chemical that is used
to make the stimulant. The court decided that that information alone
was too weak to support a warrant.

Rochefort was arrested in March 1999 and convicted of first-degree
manufacturing, possession and sale of methamphetamines.

In a ruling written by Judge Roger Klaphake, the court said all the
evidence gathered against Rochefort in a raid on his home must be
suppressed and the conviction overturned.

In the second case, marijuana seized during the unannounced search of
a home shouldn't have been allowed as evidence in the trial of two men
convicted of drug trafficking, the court said.

The ruling reversed a lower court's decision.

The case involves a search warrant that authorized police to enter the
home without knocking, which is allowed in certain cases when police
believe that the suspect might use violence or destroy evidence if
given warning.

In this case, the warrant did not include such information, even
though a police detective testified during the trial that one of the
men had a history of violent behavior and that there was evidence he
had a gun.

Two Minnesota drug convictions were reversed Tuesday by the state Appeals
Court, which ruled in separate cases that police didn't have enough
justification for search warrants.

In one case, a Winnebago man's conviction for making and selling
methamphetamine was overturned.

The three-judge panel decided that the warrant that led to Rick Allen
Rochefort's arrest last year was based on information from confidential
informants whose reliability could not be established, and on Rochefort's
purchase of iodine crystal, a chemical that is used to make the stimulant.
The court decided that that information alone was too weak to support a
warrant.

Rochefort was arrested in March 1999 and convicted of first-degree
manufacturing, possession and sale of methamphetamines.

In a ruling written by Judge Roger Klaphake, the court said all the
evidence gathered against Rochefort in a raid on his home must be
suppressed and the conviction overturned.

In the second case, marijuana seized during the unannounced search of a
home shouldn't have been allowed as evidence in the trial of two men
convicted of drug trafficking, the court said.

The ruling reversed a lower court's decision.

The case involves a search warrant that authorized police to enter the home
without knocking, which is allowed in certain cases when police believe
that the suspect might use violence or destroy evidence if given warning.

In this case, the warrant did not include such information, even though a
police detective testified during the trial that one of the men had a
history of violent behavior and that there was evidence he had a gun.

The case will be sent back to Clay County District Court.

The case will be sent back to Clay County District Court.