MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A judge says the police seizure of more than $4 million in marijuana and other contraband from two Montana men who were driving through Minnesota was illegal.
The Star Tribune reports that District Judge Timothy Churchwell on Tuesday dismissed charges of controlled substance sales filed against 31-year-old Michael Desroches, of Missoula, Montana, and 24-year-old Alexander Gordon, of Helena, Montana. They were pulled over last March on Interstate 94 in Douglas County by a Minnesota state trooper who said their vehicle had a cracked windshield and Desroches was weaving.
Churchwell ruled that the cracked windshield was sufficient cause to stop the vehicle but found that Trooper Aaron Myren lacked reasonable grounds to expand the traffic stop into a search of the vehicle.
Prosecutors have five days to appeal the ruling.
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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
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