EVIDENCE REJECTED IN PASTOR'S DRUG CASE

Judge Rules Police Illegally Coerced The Rev. Clyde Maye Jr. Into Allowing
Search Of His Vehicle

A Mobile County judge ruled Friday that the Rev. Clyde Maye Jr.'s consent
to have his vehicle searched during a traffic stop last spring -- a search
that turned up nearly an ounce of marijuana and assorted pills -- was
illegally coerced.

Circuit Judge William McDermott ruled that the evidence police gathered
could not be used against the 49-year-old pastor of Liberty Missionary
Baptist Church and former Mobile water board member.

Although Maye's trial still was set for Tuesday, it is unlikely to occur in
the wake of the judge's ruling.

"It's essentially done," Assistant District Attorney George Hardesty Jr.
said Friday outside court. "The evidence has been suppressed. There is
nothing to go forward on."

Maye was charged May 14 with felony possession of marijuana and felony
possession of controlled substances.

During a hearing Friday, McDermott viewed a Chickasaw police videotape of
the traffic stop at Jacona and West Lee streets. Maye was pulled over
because the tail lights on his sport utility vehicle weren't working.

The tape, mounted on the dashboard of the patrol car and equipped with
audio, shows Chickasaw police Officer Tommy McDuffie encountering Maye. He
administered a field sobriety test to Maye then told him he could not
drive. The officer offered to call someone to pick Maye up, but they were
unable to reach anyone.

A little later, McDuffie asked Maye if he could search the vehicle, but
Maye refused. The officer then told Maye that if he arrested him for
driving under the influence, the car would be towed and searched anyway. At
that point, Maye gave his permission.

McDuffie found about an ounce of marijuana, including two rolled and
partially smoked marijuana cigarettes, and several bottles, containing
nearly 100 pills. According to Hardesty, all the pills were controlled
substances, including codeine and other drugs.

Hardesty said outside court that four of the containers were prescription
bottles, bearing the names of four different people.

Maye's Mobile attorney, Will ie Huntley Jr., argued before McDermott on
Friday that McDuffie coerced his client into allowing the search by
threatening to arrest him.

After viewing the tape, McDermott said he believed the search of Maye's
vehicle was without legal consent and therefore anything obtained during
the search was wrongfully obtained.

"It was clearly established that the constitutional rights of Dr. Maye were
violated," Hunt ley said outside court Friday following the decision.

Maye, of Prichard, was first appointed to the board of the Mobile Area
Water and Sewer System in 1994 and was reappointed by Mobile City
Councilman Thomas Sullivan to a 6-year-term in 2000. He resigned last October.

A woman who answered the phone at Maye's Carrick Road home told the
Register that the pastor was not available for comment.