On Monday, in the same court, Judge Gordon Webb denied a motion to suppress evidence in the case against the 23-year-old Johnston, ruling that it had been legally obtained and could be used against her.
The arrest of Johnston and her then boyfriend Nicholas Tomei came in late October last year when the couple drove to the Cranfield Park area where a drug deal took place in which a confidential informant played the part of the buyer.
According to court records, Tomei left the vehicle in which he and Johnston had driven to the park and went to a vehicle occupied by the confidential informant. After the alleged drug sale was made, Tomei returned to his car and the couple departed.
According to court records, the informant, who was wearing a wire, purchased $1,000 worth of a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
Johnston and Tomei were stopped on U.S. Highway 62/412 by an Arkansas State Trooper who was part of the team monitoring the bust.
Prior to the stop, Tomei admitted he had been throwing methamphetamine out of the passenger side window of his black Cadillac once he realized he was being tailed by the trooper, but the powdery substance kept blowing back into the car as Johnston drove down the highway.
Officers recovered traces of a white powdery substance from various parts of the car. Tomei also had the powder on his body from his neck to his waist where the drug had blown back on him. The Cadillac is one of the vehicles forfeited.
Tomei was given 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges against him stemming from the October incident and other cases.
Johnston is currently an inmate in the McPherson Unit of the state prison system. She was sentenced to five years in prison early this year for violating the terms and conditions of her probation in two previous drug-related cases.
The motion to suppress evidence, filed by Johnston’s attorney, Norman Wilber, and argued on Monday contended that because the confidential informant was a parolee, the law officers involved in the Tomei-Johnston drug bust should have obtained an authorization from proper authorities to allow him to participate as required by regulations set out in the Arkansas Community Correction manual. He said since such authorization was not sought or given, the evidence obtained during the drug bust should be suppressed.
Judge Webb said fairly early during Monday’s hearing that he saw a major difference between the law and administrative procedures laid out by a state agency. He said he did not see how violating an agency’s procedures would impact Johnston’s constitutional protections to the point that evidence should be suppressed.
The judge pointed out that the regulations were in place primarily to protect probationers and parolees and to provide guidelines to be followed if they were used in situations where they were asked to serve to work with the police as confidential informants.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI