DRUG EVIDENCE TOSSED BECAUSE ROADBLOCK RULES FOUND LACKING

WEST PALM BEACH -- An appeals court on Wednesday threw out drug evidence
from an arrest made during a roadblock, saying the West Palm Beach Police
Department's guidelines for roadblocks do not contain specific information
about drug searches.

Earnest D. Jones, 38, of Riviera Beach was stopped at 32nd Street and
Broadway on Jan. 11, 2000, during a vehicle safety inspection roadblock in
which every car was stopped. He was cited for not having insurance or
registration cards.

According to court records, the officers asked to search his vehicle and he
refused. An officer said he saw marijuana seeds on the seat of the car.
Police then searched the car and found a small amount of cocaine and
marijuana. They found more drugs on Jones as they were arresting him. Jones
pleaded no contest to drug charges and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Jones' lawyer, Robert Norvell, argued that the vehicle search itself was
flawed and therefore all evidence collected must be suppressed.

A three-judge panel from the 4th District Court of Appeal agreed, saying
Circuit Judge Howard Berman should have excluded the drug evidence. The
panel's ruling states that the police department's written guidelines for
the roadblock were inadequate because they did not mention the presence or
duties of narcotics officers.

Courts generally have allowed police to conduct roadblocks in the interest
of public safety, such as to check for seat belt use and drunken drivers.
But the police must use written guidelines so drivers are not stopped or
searched arbitrarily, courts have ruled.

Capt. Delsa Bush, a supervisor with the police department's road patrol,
said the department will discuss the ruling. But she said she doesn't
anticipate any changes to the written guidelines officers use.

"Certainly we want to follow the rules," she said.

But the department also has the right to arrest drivers on drug charges if
the drugs are in plain view, she said.

The attorney general's office said it is considering whether to ask for
another hearing on the matter.

Norvell said prosecutors should drop the charges against Jones because the
drug evidence was the crux of the case.