TEDDY BEAR SEARCH RULED ILLEGAL

Rohnert Park police should have obtained a search warrant before
splitting open a teddy bear found to contain a half-pound of
marijuana, a state appeals court ruled.

The bear was turned over to police in August 2005 by the owner of a
mailing business who became suspicious after a man sent several
overnight packages to different addresses in Wisconsin.

Gilberto Perez Pereira was arrested after calling to ask about the shipment.

Police found methamphetamine, shotgun shells and drug paraphernalia
when they searched his home.

The charges were dismissed by Sonoma County Superior Court Judge
Cerena Wong, who ruled that police should have obtained a search
warrant before looking inside the bear.

A three-judge panel of the state's 1st District Court of Appeal
upheld the ruling after an appeal by the Sonoma County district
attorney. The opinion was filed Tuesday.

A key issue in the case was whether Perez Pereira effectively
abandoned the parcel containing the teddy bear by using a false name
to ship it. The court ruled there was "substantial evidence" that he
hadn't abandoned the package.