TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL TO SUE OVER ROADSIDE CHECKS

Organizers of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival plan to file a lawsuit in
federal court against several Southwest Colorado law enforcement agencies
over an alleged highway "checkpoint" that coincided with last year's festival.

Jason Slade Spillman, an attorney for Planet Bluegrass - the business that
puts on the festival - said a June 14 and 15 "checkpoint" on Colorado
Highway 145 last year violated the constitutional rights of those stopped
and unfairly targeted the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's business.

The operation deprived those stopped from their Fourth Amendment protection
from unreasonable search and seizure, he said.

Attorneys for the law enforcement agencies said Tuesday that the operation
was completely legal, and that it did not violate anybody's constitutional
rights. They objected to the word "checkpoint," saying the operation only
stopped drivers who violated traffic laws.

"A checkpoint is when you stop cars for a particular purpose, like an
alcohol checkpoint," said Joe Olt, district attorney for the 22nd Judicial
District. "I don't see any violation of the Fourth Amendment here."

The operation resulted in eight felony arrests for possession of either
psilocybin mushrooms or large amounts of marijuana. Three people had their
cars impounded, including one who was carrying more than 2 pounds of
marijuana packaged for resale.

Law enforcement officers also doled out 13 citations for people in
possession of smaller amounts of marijuana or drug paraphernalia and wrote
10 traffic citations.

Dolores, Montezuma and La Plata counties, the cities of Durango and Cortez,
and the 22nd Judicial District Drug Task Force will likely be named in the
lawsuit, Spillman said.

Durango has been named because one Durango Police officer participated in
the operation, said Earl Rhodes, a Grand Junction attorney representing the
city.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Craig B. Shaffer on Friday denied Planet
Bluegrass' petition to find out the names and addresses of all law
enforcement officials and agencies involved with the operation.

The failed petition also sought to find out why the "drug interdiction
checkpoints" were conducted on Highway 145 in Dolores County on the days
they were conducted.

Spillman said that Planet Bluegrass will file the lawsuit within six weeks,
before the next festival starts June 21.

It will also seek a court injunction to stop any similar operations this
summer, he said.

Olt said he did not know whether law enforcement agencies were planning a
similar operation for this year. Robert Liechty, a Denver attorney
representing Dolores and La Plata counties, also said he did not know.

Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin on Tuesday declined to comment on the
matter.

Spillman said on Tuesday that a November ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court,
Indianapolis v. Edmond, outlawed drug interdiction checkpoints.

He said that law enforcement agencies named the operation "Catch 22."

Signs warned oncoming traffic of a "narcotic checkpoint," which caused some
vehicles to make illegal U-turns, he said.

"It essentially refers to 'You're damned if you do, you're damned if you
don't,'" he said.

The title of the operation could not be confirmed Tuesday. Liechty said the
operation included signs that indicated some sort of drug checkpoint ahead.

Spillman said it was no coincidence that the operation took place at the
same time as the festival.

In June 2000, Martin responded to the controversy around the operation. He
said it only made sense to conduct the operation when there's the greatest
chance for drugs to pass through.

"Any administrator with any thinking ability would target a time when the
possibility of a drug flow on a roadway would be at its highest," Martin said.