GREENVILLE DRUG EVIDENCE TOSSED OUT

High Court Rules Seizure at Checkpoint Unconstitutional

COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Supreme Court has upheld the
suppression of drug evidence found during a Greenville County
roadblock after ruling the checkpoint was unconstitutional, violating
the protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

A lawyer for the defendant in the case said the ruling is the first
in the state since U.S. Supreme Court decisions on roadblocks and
could limit the discretion of law enforcement in making future checkpoints.

But Chief Justice Jean Toal, dissenting, argued that she saw nothing
wrong with the roadblock and would reverse the ruling of Circuit
Judge D. Garrison Hill.

At issue were two bags containing 13 ounces of cocaine found after a
car driven by Eston Groome was stopped during a Greenville County
sheriff's checkpoint, according to court records. Groome said he had
smoked some marijuana but denied the cocaine was his, according to
the Supreme Court's opinion.

Hill ruled that the roadblock was for general crime control and
Groome's Fourth Amendment rights were violated because of previous
rulings that made general crime checkpoints unconstitutional.

The judge said his decision was based upon the facts that the law
enforcement unit involved dealt with crime suppression issues, a K-9
team assisted, and no evidence was presented as to the plan,
procedures or duration of the roadblock.

Also, according to Justice Costa Pleicones, who wrote for the
majority, the state failed to prove one part of a three-part test to
show how effective the roadblock was, something he said was also
required by a previous appellate ruling.

Toal disagreed, arguing the evidence shows the roadblock was to check
driver's licenses, which is permitted under constitutional decisions.
And she disagreed that the state had to produce evidence to show the
roadblock was effective.

"In my view, the balance of the public interest and the severity of
the interference with individual liberty clearly weighs in favor of
this checkpoint," she wrote.

James H. Price III, one of Groome's lawyers, said law enforcement
will now have to have a reason for any roadblock and then keep
statistics to "justify why it was there."

"Their discretion is not going to be as broad as they had before," he said.