A Mercury Cougar and $18,855 in cash must be returned to a former cocaine defendant, according to a ruling by U.S. District Chief Judge Bruce S. Jenkins.
"Unfortunately for the prosecution, the manner in which the arrest was effected was found to violate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, and the evidence obtained was thereby suppressed," Jenkins wrote.Juan Fabela-Garcia, was arrested April 27, 1988 on I-70 by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper who thought it suspicious that the man was driving 50 to 55 mph in a 65 mph zone. After tailing the man for 35 miles, the trooper stopped Fabela-Garcia and cited him for traveling in the passing lane.
Officers searched the car and found 14 kilograms of cocaine, the cash and an additional 9 grams of cocaine on Fabela-Garcia's person.
On Sept. 30, 1988, Jenkins granted a motion by the government to dismiss the federal charge because there was no longer any viable evidence.
Fabela-Garcia filed a motion five days later for the return of his car and the money that was seized in the arrest.
The judge wrote the government has acknowledged the property was illegally seized and should be returned to the defendant. Government attorneys argued that the property is not within the court's control because it was placed with the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Jenkins said the government's suggestion that the matter be deferred to the Utah 7th Judicial District Court in Emery County - in which a forfeiture action was filed seven months after the arrest - ignores the fact that it has a power of control, even though another entity may have physical possession.