Illegal Search Warrant Exonerates Chiropractor on Drug Charges

BOWLING GREEN, OH–The Sixth District Court of Appeals has overturned a conviction of a local chiropractor. The Doc was originally charged with allowing drug abuse in her home.

Huntington entered the plea after a motion to suppress evidence, filed in August 2009, was denied by a Bowling Green Municipal Court. At issue was a search warrant filed and executed while the chiropractor was away from her home. The warrant was obtained when a friend who was feeding her cat gave police permission to enter the chiropractors home.
While at the home of the chiropractor “feeding the cat”, the friend found items which led him to contact the police, who then obtained a warrant. The appeals court ruled that the friend “merely had (the chiropractors) permission to enter the kitchen to feed the cats on three separate days; the cat feeders presence in appellant’s house could reasonably be expected to amount to no more than five or 10 minutes on each occasion.”
The Judge that granted the warrant presided at the chiropractor’s plea agreement.
The appeals court added that her friend was not staying in the house overnight and he was not given authority over the premises.
“We find that appellant’s home was searched illegally and that the trial court therefore erred by denying appellant’s motion to suppress,” the panel of three judges concurred.
They ruled in favor of the chiropractor’s appeal and sent the matter back to the municipal court.
Source: The Sentinel-Tribune

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