JUDGE CLEARS CARJACK VICTIM

A felony drug charge has been dismissed against a California man who told
police in March that he was the victim of a carjacking.

Jeremiah Putman, 28, of Oakhurst, Calif., was charged with possession of a
dangerous drug with intent to distribute after police found 80 grams of
marijuana in the Jeep that Putman said he was forced to abandon at
knifepoint. A woman with Putman told police she was forced to jump out of
the Jeep by two men Putman met in a bar and to whom he had offered a ride.

District Judge Diane Barz dismissed the charge against Putman Sept. 5. The
charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

In a recent telephone interview, Putman said he spent five days in the
Yellowstone County Detention Facility before he was released after posting
a $20,000 bond. He said that when he returned to California he lost his job
as a result of the felony drug charge, and the incident has caused family
problems. Putman said he lived in Billings for a time and was here to visit
his infant son when he was arrested and charged.

He said he is considering a lawsuit against the city.

The drug charge was dismissed after Putman's public defender, Solomon
Neuhardt, filed a motion in August claiming police violated Putman's civil
rights. In court documents, Neuhardt said police conducted an illegal
search and seizure of the rented Jeep in which the drugs were found;
applied for a search warrant based on what they found during the illegal
search, and conducted an illegal interrogation of Putman.

Prosecutors did not object to the dismissal of the drug charge. County
Attorney Dennis Paxinos said Friday his office decided not to pursue the
case because police may have improperly search Putman's vehicle.

"I think the officers should have got a search warrant before they went
into the vehicle, based on Montana Supreme Court decisions," Paxinos said.
"So we decided not to oppose the motion to dismiss."Putman's story

At 2 a.m. April 18, Putman flagged down a police officer and told him he
had been forced out of his vehicle by two men when one of the men
threatened to kill his girlfriend with a knife.

Putman said the officer was skeptical of his story.

"Right away he said he didn't believe me because he said carjackings don't
happen in Montana," Putman told The Gazette.

While they were talking, a 911 call came in from Celeste Greenhill, who
later said she was forced to jump out of the Jeep while it was going about
50 mph. She suffered a skull fracture and other injuries.

About three hours later, a woman called police to report that a Jeep had
been left running and abandoned in an alley behind her house. When officers
arrived, they searched the Jeep and found a box with several baggies of
marijuana inside. Police said later that 82 grams of marijuana were found
in the Jeep.

Neuhardt said in court records the officers should have got a search
warrant before looking through the Jeep. Paxinos said Friday the officers
could have asked Putman for permission before the search.

A few hours after officers found the Jeep and the marijuana, two police
detectives spoke with Putman at Deaconess Billings Clinic where Greenhill
was being treated. After talking about events before the carjacking, the
detectives began to question Putman about the marijuana and what they said
were inconsistencies in his story.

Putman denied several times that the marijuana was his, according to a
transcript of the interview with the detectives. At one point, a detective
said he didn't believe Putman was telling the whole truth and read him his
Miranda warning.

"Midway through the interview, the detectives changed their tone and then
began accusing Putman of lying about contents of the vehicle," Neuhardt
said in court records. "The interview then changed to a suspect
interrogation. ... It is Putman's contention that had he known he was a
suspect from the very beginning of the interview, he would have invoked his
Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to speak
with the detectives without an attorney."

Putman continued to deny that the marijuana was his, according to the
transcript.

"Do you want to tell the truth here?" one of the detectives asked. "We know
more than you think."

"Yeah, and we're not going to sit here and waste our time to have you jerk
us around because all you'll do is make us angry and that ain't gonna be
real good for you," the second detective said.

"I have nothing to hide from you guys, I really don't," Putman said.

At the time, police said publicly that they believed that Putman might have
been involved in a drug deal that went bad. No one has been charged for the
carjacking.