Judge rejects drug case evidence, says trooper may have used profiling

BY MITCH WEISS Associated Press Writer

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) A judge said he threw out evidence in a drug case
because the State Highway Patrol's druginterdiction team illegally stopped
and searched a car.

Lucas County Judge William Skow believes Trooper Kevin Kiefer may have used
a "profile" to stop the car carrying two Hispanic men. Skow made the
decision after hearing testimony and reviewing a videotape of the stop shot
from the patrol cruiser

"One is left to wonder if this car outwardly unremarkable and with no
suspicious behavior was targeted by specific tip, or by means of a
profile. Trooper Kiefer insists not, but Trooper Kiefer's credibility is
suspect," Skow said.

Patrol spokesman Lt. John Born said Tuesday the patrol never uses profiles
written descriptions of common characteristics of criminals, sometimes
based on age, appearance or race. Profiles can be used, but cannot be the
only reason for stopping a motorist. Officers also must have probable
cause, court have ruled.

Born said troopers make stops based on driving behavior, not on whether the
driver fits a drug profile.

Kiefer has since been transferred off the drug team, which has seized
nearly $100 million worth of narcotics since 1992. Born said the transfer
was not related to the case.

"It is not unusual for people to be rotated on and off the team," he said.

Luis Montoya, 33, and Ramon Hernandez, 20, both of Chicago, were charged
with drug trafficking after Kiefer stopped them for speeding Dec. 11 on the
Ohio Turnpike. Investigators said they found more than $500,000 worth of
cocaine and marijuana in the trunk.

Their lawyer, Jerome Phillips, earlier this year asked the judge to
suppress evidence in the case, contending the trooper had no probable cause
to pull his clients over.

He said they were stopped because they fit a profile and that Kiefer's
initial questioning of the men constituted a "fishing expedition" for
evidence.

In late June, Skow granted Phillips' motion and said the drug team "engaged
in manipulative practices."

The Lucas County prosecutor's office has appealed the ruling. Montoya and
Hernandez have been released without bond from the Lucas County jail.

Phillips said Tuesday he wants the prosecutor's office to dismiss the
charges. Prosecutor Julia Bates said it will fight Skow's ruling.

A message left for Keifer at the patrol's Toledo post was not returned
Tuesday; his home telephone number is unlisted. Born said Kiefer would be
unable to comment under patrol policy that prohibits drug team members from
commenting on active cases.

Kiefer testified he stopped the car only because it was going about 70 mph,
five miles over the speed limit. He said he did not use a radar gun; he
compared the car's speed to that of his cruiser, which was following the car.

He said he asked the occupants questions including what they did for a
living to put them at ease. But Kiefer also called in a drug dog.

Skow said Kiefer's questions were intended only to "hopefully buttress a
preordained weak walkaround" by the drug dog.

Kiefer is one of the defendants in a federal lawsuit that accuses the
patrol of illegally using profiles to harass Hispanics.

That lawsuit, filed last year in U.S. District Court in Toledo by the Farm
Labor Organizing Committee, a union representing migrant laborers, claims
the patrol routinely stops Hispanics without justification.

© 1997 by the Beacon Journal Publishing Co.