Mediaboss Marketing

JOLIET, IL A 47-year-old California man who had nearly 23 lbs of methamphetamine seized from his car by the Will County Sheriff's Office last September was the subject of an illegal and improper search, Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius ruled.

On Wednesday morning, Assistant Will County State's Attorney Tom Bahar appeared in Courtroom 404 informing Cornelius that Henry Duenas is being released from custody at the Will County Jail and his two Class X felonies are being dismissed.

Duenas was in the Will County Jail for more than six months, facing a $1 million bail. Last week, Cornelius announced the search was illegal, and the evidence was inadmissible.

On Sept. 27, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow charged Duenas with two Class X felonies, unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

According to Duenas' lawyer, Daniel Walsh, the illegal search of his client's four-door sedan involved three Will County Sheriff's deputies and took place around 2 p.m. near Interstate 80 and Interstate 55. Duenas turned on to I-55 heading north toward Chicago when a Will County Sheriff's deputy pulled him over.

Last September, the Will County Sheriff's Office announced the drug seizure by posting a news release on its Facebook page including photos of the meth that was confiscated.

But, the Will County Sheriff's Office investigation collapsed after the judge determined the I-55 vehicle search was illegal.

"Mr. Duenas, you got the benefit of a very fine lawyer," the judge remarked Wednesday morning.

After his arrest, Duenas hired the Law Offices of Daniel M. Walsh. In January, the downtown Joliet lawyer filed a motion to suppress the evidence. The reason for the traffic stop was an alleged turning signal violation.

According to Walsh's motion to suppress:

Deputy Daniel Budde stopped the California man for a turning signal violation on Sept. 26 and insisted Duenas come back to the sheriff's vehicle so he could write him a warning ticket. Budde then asked Duenas several questions about his travel and purpose of travel.

Budde asked Duenas if he had anything illegal in his vehicle, and Duenas replied he did not. When Budde asked for permission to search the vehicle, Duenas declined to give Will County permission for a search.

When two more Will County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, Budde told them that Duenas "had inconsistent stories about his travels" and that he was just finishing up his tickets as Budde began walking back to his squad car, where Duenas remained.

Then, one of the sheriff's deputies proclaimed, "Smell like weed?"

"Huh?" Budde replied.

"Smell like weed!" the deputy repeated.

"Yeah," Budde agreed.

According to Walsh, neither the second nor third Will County Sheriff's deputy went anywhere near his client's vehicle before searching it for drugs.

"Deputy Budde never asked defendant if he was using cannabis or had smoked cannabis," Walsh argued. "Deputy Budde never remarked that defendant smelled like cannabis, never remarked that defendant's vehicle smelled like cannabis and never noted any indication that defendant was under the influence of cannabis.

"The first and only mention of cannabis was from the second deputy who never got close to the vehicle."

Walsh's motion to suppress the evidence noted that no marijuana was found in Duenas' vehicle.

"There was no probable cause to search defendant's vehicle," Walsh argued. "Defendant indicated that he had nothing illegal and denied the officer consent to search. There was no warrant out for the defendant's arrest."

Walsh reminded the judge that the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the search and seizure of people without a lawfully issued search and or arrest warrant or a reasonable articulable suspicion of criminal activity.

"We appreciate Judge Cornelius' time and we feel it was a fair ruling," Walsh told Joliet Patch on Wednesday.

Joliet Patch has reached out to Will County Sheriff's Office for reaction to Wednesday's decision to dismiss the Class X drug charges against Duenas.

Before Wednesday's hearing ended, Cornelius told Duenas, who lives in Desert Hot Springs, California, that he's very lucky his felony drug trafficking case was dismissed. The judge also told him he's got a lot of problems in life that he needs to address.

Read the original here:
Charges Dropped After Giant Meth Seizure By Will County Sheriffs - Patch