GUN-QUESTION PROTESTER PLEADS GUILTY IN DRUG CASE

MUSKOGEE -- A man whose case questioned the legal limits of what
police can ask during routine traffic stops gave up his legal fight
Monday. Dennis Dayton Holt, 46, pleaded guilty to possession with the
intent to distribute methamphetamine and manufacturing
methamphetamine. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and
a $1 million fine for each count.

Holt's case went beyond the drug arrest. He claimed that the methods
police used in his arrest were unconstitutional, an argument he
ultimately lost.

In 1999, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper pulled Holt over because
Holt wasn't wearing a seat belt. The trooper asked Holt whether he had
a loaded gun in his car.

A search of the car revealed methamphetamine, and a subsequent search
of Holt's home uncovered a meth lab.

Holt challenged the constitutionality of the trooper's questioning,
claiming the trooper didn't have constitutional authority to ask about
the gun.

A federal district judge and the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
both sided with Holt. The rulings, if upheld, would have thrown out
drug evidence uncovered as a result of the trooper's search for the
gun.

It also could have set a legal precedent that would have limited what
police can do during a traffic stop.

But the appeals court reversed itself in September, saying the trooper
didn't violate Holt's Fourth Amendment rights.

U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said the court's decision not only
helped his case, but future cases, too.