Court: Police violated Fourth Amendment in traffic stop during meth investigation
Eighth Circuit rules that drugs recovered from warrant should have been suppressed
A Sioux Falls man who was arrested as part a of multi-state drug trafficking ring was detained longer than reasonably necessary during a routine traffic stop, the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
The three-judge panel’s 2-1 decision ruled that Alex Olin Johnson’s Fourth Amendment rights had been violated. The amendment protects people from “unreasonable searches and seizures.” The decision reversed the district court, which had ruled against Johnson’s motion to suppress evidence seized as a result of the traffic stop.
Johnson was indicted in October of 2020 in connection with an arrest that occurred in November of 2019. He later pleaded guilty, but he reserved his right to appeal the suppression decision.
