A lawyer for one of the people recently charged in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division with drug trafficking has filed a motion to have evidence against her thrown out because it is alleged to have been illegally obtained.
Gray Dellinger of Melbourne, one of the attorneys for both Cameron Baker and Kadence Martin, filed the motion on Martin’s behalf.
Both Baker and Martin are in their early 20’s, according to court records. There are three others charged with being involved in the drug operation: 35-year-old Wesley Bray and 24-year-old Hannah Page Smolek-Bray and 20-year-old Carson Michael Grass of Mountain Home.
All five of the individuals are now facing both state and federal drug charges.
Baker along with Wesley and Hannah Smolek-Bray are being held on federal charges in the Washington County Detention Center. There is no bond listed for them.
Records indicated that Grass and Martin are free on bond.
MARTIN’S ARREST
On November 3 last year, police went to Martin’s apartment seeking to arrest Baker on a state probation violation warrant. According to the probable cause affidavit, officers verified that Baker was staying at Martin’s residence.
She was described as his girlfriend. Martin’s two-year-old son was also present in the apartment.
When officer arrived at the apartment, Martin is reported to have met them at the door. Baker was sleeping in a bedroom.
SAFE FOUND
During a search of the bedroom, a locked safe was found. A drug dog alerted on the safe and it was seized. A search warrant was obtained and officers reported that when opened the safe contained 1.5 pounds of suspected cocaine, two firearms and $11,600 in cash.
In the motion to suppress the evidence seized and statements made during the November 3 arrest, Dellinger raises a number of issues related to the legality of the search.
He writes that Martin’s residence was not Baker’s home, that she was not given the opportunity to refuse the search or read her Miranda rights, although she was present at the scene.
Martin was alleged to have told officers the safe belonged to her. Dellinger argues that it was seized and removed from her apartment without a warrant.
WAIVER DIDN’T APPLY TO MARTIN
Dellinger contends that the search waiver signed by Baker when he was put on probation in an Izard County drug case did not apply to Martin’s apartment, but to Baker’s listed residence in Calico Rock.
He writes that it appears in this case that investigators are claiming that Baker’s search waiver is “drafted broadly enough” that it would grant a “blanket right to search a third person’s residence without a warrant or the person’s consent.”
A person put on probation signs a waiver permitting warrantless searches of his person and property.
It is pointed out in the suppression motion that Baker’s name was not on the apartment lease and that he had listed his address with probation and parole as being in Calico Rock.
The attorney argues that Baker had “no power or legal authority” to agree to a search waiver that covered Martin’s property.
Dellinger contends that courts have found that a residence is “where you live, a fixed and permanent abode or dwelling place” as opposed to a temporary location.
Martin’s charges include trafficking a controlled substance, simultaneous possession of drug and firearms and endangering the welfare of a minor.
According to court records, Martin is reported to have put up more than $15,000 in cash to obtain Baker’s original bond that had been set at $150,000.
The state will file an answer to the motion and the court has set a hearing for March 20.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI