DRUG CASE TOSSED

A drug trafficking case based on methamphetamine found by probation
officers at a client's home has been dismissed because the officers
illegally seized the evidence, a judge has decided.

James A. Tipton had faced up to life in prison if convicted of trafficking
more than 20 ounces of methamphetamine. The case was dismissed by Special
Judge James Bland last week in Pittsburg County District Court.

Tipton was on probation due to a 1998 conviction in Oklahoma County for
drug possession and distribution when the drugs were allegedly found by his
probation officer on July 3 at his McAlester home. Three probation officers
conducted a "walk-through" of Tipton's home based on a tip that he was
operating a drug lab at his home, according to court records. Drugs were
found when one of the officers opened a Hershey's chocolate container found
in Tipton's bedroom dresser drawer.

Judge Bland found the officer acted outside the parameters of his job by
opening a container during the "walk-through" of the home, making it an
illegal search that violated Tipton's Fourth Amendment rights protecting
him from unreasonable search and seizure.

According to a lab report from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation,
seven samples of powder seized by police tested positive for
methamphetamine, and eight samples of liquid and powder tested positive for
ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, both precursors to the drug. Because the
drugs were illegally seized, however, they could not be admitted as
evidence in the case.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Hull represented the state in the case.

The district attorney's office has appealed the ruling.