HIGH COURT TOSSES DRUG RULINGS

Prosecutors failed to link evidence from an Urbandale apartment to one of
its tenants, justices say.

The Iowa Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the drug convictions of a man
who was arrested after Urbandale police found marijuana in an apartment he
shared with two others.

Chief Justice Louis Lavorato, who wrote the opinion, said prosecutors
didn't connect a bong - a marijuana water pipe - a stash of marijuana in a
freezer and other evidence found in a February 2000 search to Anthony Webb.

Lavorato said the state failed to meet the standard for proof that Webb
knew of the drug items or had control over them. The ruling reversed
decisions by the Polk County District Court and the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Webb, according to records, was arrested when he went to the apartment
several hours after police began the search. He had $336 in cash on him. He
was charged with possession of a controlled substance, failure to buy a
drug stamp and child endangerment. Webb contended he was the baby sitter of
a child living in the apartment.

Lavorato noted that there were no fingerprints linking Webb to drug
paraphernalia or to a gun and bullets found in the apartment. None of the
items was found among his possessions, and police found no drugs on Webb.

In a lone dissent, Justice Mark Cady noted evidence that Webb was
unemployed, had a large amount of cash on him at the time of his arrest and
had a prior marijuana conviction.

"Although none of the evidence alone may support a finding of possession in
this case, taken as a whole, it is enough to support the jury's findings"
of guilt, he said.