JUDGE MUST LOOK AGAIN AT MARIJUANA RAID CASE

Search: Federal Agency Stands Accused Of Mishandling Warrant.

Fairbanks -- A North Pole man in federal prison could be freed if his
attorney can prove drug agents never showed him a complete search warrant
before raiding his home and discovering marijuana plants.

In a decision released late last week, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled that a U.S. District Court judge must reconsider the case of
Darrell Ridgway, sentenced to five years in prison nearly a year ago after
he was convicted of manufacturing a controlled substance.

At issue is whether Drug Enforcement Agency officers provided Ridgway with
paperwork specifically outlining what they would be looking for before they
entered his house in January 2001 and found 135 marijuana plants, root
systems and a small amount of loose marijuana.

"The question is did the agents just go in there and rummage around, or did
they look for what was in" the document, said federal public defender Sue
Ellen Tatter. "It sounds technical, but it's really not. It's important to
citizens that they can't just rummage, they have to be limited to something
specific."

Ridgway appealed his federal conviction largely because of the testimony of
then DEA agent Cary Freeman.

Freeman testified at Ridgway's preliminary hearing that when he approached
Ridgway's house, he had only a general search warrant form and not the
document detailing what the agents thought was inside, according the
Appeals Court ruling.

However, during a later hearing on Ridgway's motion to dismiss evidence
against him, Freeman testified that he did take the document into Ridgway's
home and showed it to him.

"Freeman explained that when he testified at the preliminary hearing that
he had not brought (the document) with him into Ridgway's house, (that) he
had been referring to the first time he had entered the house," the ruling
states. Freeman went on to say that he got the document out of his car
after the house was secure and returned with it, according to the ruling.

The magistrate presiding over the hearing later issued a report stating he
did not believe Freeman's statements because he could not explain the
"glaring discrepancies in his testimony."

The magistrate recommended that the District Court judge rule that
Ridgway's Fourth Amendment rights were violated and that the court should
not consider the marijuana plants and other evidence seized from his home.

The judge refused to bar the evidence.

The Appeals Court ruling Thursday states the judge erred by not conducting
another hearing before making the decision. The decision orders the judge
to conduct another hearing to decide the fate of the evidence.

Tatter said Thursday she is confident about getting the evidence dismissed.
She said the defense is prepared to call several witnesses, including
relatives who were at the house during the raid. They can testify that DEA
agents never showed Ridgway the document.

Prosecutor Stephen Cooper declined to comment on the details of the case.
He said the government will continue its case against Ridgway.