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Barre, VT - A judge has dismissed felony drug charges against a Moretown man after ruling that police used coercive tactics to elicit an involuntary confession.
John Summers -- a British immigrant who faced deportation if convicted of the felony drug charge -- told Vermont State Police last August that he was responsible for the 28 marijuana plants growing in a plot near his home.
The felony charge carried a possible 15-year prison sentence.
Defense lawyer Richard Rubin filed a motion to suppress Summers' admission, saying the confession came after a police threat that "overcame ( the defendant's ) free will not to give a statement."
At issue was whether statements made by Trooper Michael Manley constituted a threat, and whether or not that threat forced Summers to relinquish his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
The case stemmed from a helicopter flyover in which members of the Vermont State Police Marijuana Eradication Response Team observed marijuana plants growing along the edge of a field near Summers' home.
Summers said during a May 2 motion hearing that Trooper Michael Manley threatened to "play hardball" and arrest everyone in the house if Summers refused to admit to tending the marijuana plot.
Summers' wife and 16-year-old daughter and friend of his daughter were in the home at the time.
"I was sufficiently unmanned by comments about hardball and taking everyone away that despite the fact I knew it was not in my best interest, I admitted they were mine," Summers said.
In a written ruling filed May 6 in Vermont District Court in Barre, Judge Geoffrey Crawford said that Manley's threat was baseless.
"He did not have a lawful basis to arrest everyone in the house," the judge wrote.
Citing case law in Vermont and other states, Crawford ruled that a confession obtained after a threat to arrest a family member is only valid if the police "had an objective good faith basis for threatening to arrest the family member."
Source: Rutland Herald (VT)
Copyright: 2005 Rutland Herald
Contact: letters@rutlandherald.com
Website: rutlandherald.com | We serve our communities as the independent, trusted voice of Vermont.
John Summers -- a British immigrant who faced deportation if convicted of the felony drug charge -- told Vermont State Police last August that he was responsible for the 28 marijuana plants growing in a plot near his home.
The felony charge carried a possible 15-year prison sentence.
Defense lawyer Richard Rubin filed a motion to suppress Summers' admission, saying the confession came after a police threat that "overcame ( the defendant's ) free will not to give a statement."
At issue was whether statements made by Trooper Michael Manley constituted a threat, and whether or not that threat forced Summers to relinquish his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
The case stemmed from a helicopter flyover in which members of the Vermont State Police Marijuana Eradication Response Team observed marijuana plants growing along the edge of a field near Summers' home.
Summers said during a May 2 motion hearing that Trooper Michael Manley threatened to "play hardball" and arrest everyone in the house if Summers refused to admit to tending the marijuana plot.
Summers' wife and 16-year-old daughter and friend of his daughter were in the home at the time.
"I was sufficiently unmanned by comments about hardball and taking everyone away that despite the fact I knew it was not in my best interest, I admitted they were mine," Summers said.
In a written ruling filed May 6 in Vermont District Court in Barre, Judge Geoffrey Crawford said that Manley's threat was baseless.
"He did not have a lawful basis to arrest everyone in the house," the judge wrote.
Citing case law in Vermont and other states, Crawford ruled that a confession obtained after a threat to arrest a family member is only valid if the police "had an objective good faith basis for threatening to arrest the family member."
Source: Rutland Herald (VT)
Copyright: 2005 Rutland Herald
Contact: letters@rutlandherald.com
Website: rutlandherald.com | We serve our communities as the independent, trusted voice of Vermont.
