HIGH COURT RULES DRUG SEARCH UNLAWFUL

A nighttime intrusion by four police officers onto the property of a
Craighead County optician violated the constitutional protection against
unreasonable searches and seizures, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The court sent back to Craighead County Circuit Judge David Goodson the
case of David Griffin with instructions to suppress the evidence obtained
in the search.

Griffin was sentenced to 25 years in prison after entering a conditional
guilty plea for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and
simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm. He received a 10-year
suspended sentence for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officer Bobbie Johnson testified that on Aug. 25, 1999, he received an
anonymous tip that Griffin was selling drugs from his office or home.
Griffin's residence was in the basement of a two-story home owned by his
parents and near his office on U.S. 49 near Jonesboro.

Johnson said the circumstances of the tip did not constitute probable cause
upon which a search warrant could be issued.

About 10 p.m., he and three other officers parked their police cars 15 to
20 yards from the house.

Johnson testified that the officers looked in a parked car because it had
an open door. He said they had walked around the premises before talking
with Griffin.

Johnson also said he believed that the officers knocked first on Griffin's
door and then walked around the premises because nobody answered the door,
and then returned to knock again and Griffin answered the door.

He also testified that officers talked to Griffin before searching.

It was undisputed that no consent to a search was signed, no advice was
given that Griffin could refuse to consent to a search, and his Miranda
rights weren't read to him before the search began.

It was disputed whether Griffin imposed limits upon his consent to a search
or whether he later revoked his consent and demanded that the officers
obtain a warrant.

The officers found a sealed container containing methamphetamine in a
locked cabinet in Griffin's bedroom and discovered drug paraphernalia and a
firearm.

The court opinion, signed by Justice Ray Thornton, said the predominance of
the evidence shows that four officers approached the sliding-glass door of
Griffin's basement residence through the woods from the vicinity of a shed
and carried flashlights so they could see in the darkness. The predominance
of the evidence also shows that an unlawful search had begun before Griffin
was summoned to the door, the court said.

The court said it knows of no authority for "a knock and search" doctrine
allowing a warrantless search to begin after officers knock on a door that
no one comes to.

Chief Justice W.H. "Dub" Arnold and Justice Tom Glaze agreed with Thornton.
Justices Robert L. Brown, Donald Corbin and Jim Hannah concurred. Justice
Annabelle Clinton Imber did not participate.