here and searched the house without a warrant because he had established exigent circumstances. As it was, he missed the sale.
As the court knows, a police officer does not have to stop and get a search warrant if he has reason to believe that stopping to get the warrant will lead to the loss or destruction of the very evidence that he wants to seize. Of course, if the search here in Milton County was okay, there was nothing wrong with using the evidence found in the mountain home as the basis for probable cause in the warrant affidavit for the defendant's Portland house.
Who's your first witness, Mr. Scofield? Judge Brody asked.
The State calls Sherri Watson.
Watson was the receptionist at vice and narcotics who had transferred the anonymous call to Vasquez. After she testified that the call had in fact been phoned in to police headquarters, Scofield called Bobby Vasquez to the stand.
Vasquez was wearing a navy blue sports jacket and tan slacks. Amanda thought he looked nervous when he took the oath. He took a sip of water as he waited for the district attorney's first question.
Please tell the court the circumstances that led you to search the Milton County cabin without a warrant, Scofield asked after the detective recounted his background in police work.
I was at my desk in vice and narcotics writing a police report when the receptionist put through a caller who wanted to report a crime. I was the only one available, so it was chance that I caught the call.
What did the caller tell you? Scofield asked.
The informant said that Dr. Vincent Cardoni was going to sell two kilos of cocaine.
Did the caller tell you where the defendant was keeping the cocaine?
Yes, sir. In a mountain cabin here in Milton County.
Did you obtain a warrant to search the cabin?
No, sir. The caller never identified him- or herself. The tip was anonymous. I knew I needed corroboration before I could go to a judge.
Did you try to corroborate the call? Scofield asked.
Yes, sir. I confronted a known drug dealer who knew the person who had sold Dr. Cardoni the cocaine, and he confirmed that Cardoni was going to sell the two kilos.
Did your informant know who was buying the two kilos of cocaine from the defendant?
No. Just that Dr. Cardoni was selling and that the two kilos were supposedly in the doctor's cabin.
So he corroborated the anonymous caller's statement that the drugs were in Milton County?
Yes, sir.
Now that you had corroboration, why didn't you get a warrant?
There wasn't time. I talked to this informant in the afternoon. He said the sale was going down that day. It takes about an hour and a half to drive to the defendant's house from Portland. I was afraid that I would miss the sale if I waited for a judge to issue a warrant.
Tell the judge what happened when you arrived at the cabin.
I gained entry to the house. Once I was inside I noticed a padlock on one of the doors on the bottom floor. This made me suspicious, and I concluded that it was probable that the defendant had locked the room to protect his contraband.
How did you open the lock?
With a lock pick I had with me.
Did you find cocaine in the ground-floor room?
Yes, sir, Vasquez answered grimly.
What else did you find?
The severed heads of two Caucasian females.
There was a stir in the courtroom, and Judge Brody rapped his gavel. While order was being restored, Vasquez took a drink of water.
Can you identify these items, Detective Vasquez? Scofield asked.
Vasquez took three photographs from the district attorney and identified them as different views of the refrigerator and its contents. Scofield handed the photos to the judge and moved to enter them into evidence for purposes of the hearing. Brody's face drained of color when he saw the pictures. The judge looked at the evidence quickly, then turned the photographs facedown.
After finding the severed heads, did you call the Milton County Sheriff's Department?
Yes, sir.
What happened then?
Representatives of that department, the Oregon State Police, and the Portland Police Bureau arrived at the scene and conducted a thorough examination of the premises.
Were a number of physical items, including numerous pieces of scientific evidence, seized from the cabin?
Yes, sir.
Your Honor, I am handing you State's exhibit one. It is a list of all the items seized from the cabin. Rather than having Detective Vasquez take up court time, Mr. Jaffe and I have stipulated that this is the evidence that the defendant wishes to suppress.
Do you so stipulate, Mr. Jaffe? the judge asked.
Yes, Your Honor.
Very well, the stipulation will be accepted and the list will be admitted into evidence. Proceed, Mr. Scofield.
Scofield walked Vasquez through the search of the Portland home, then concluded his questioning.
Your witness, Mr. Jaffe.
Frank leaned back in his chair and studied the policeman. Vasquez sat quietly, looking very professional.
Detective Vasquez, how many other officers accompanied you to the cabin when you made the search?
None.
Frank looked bewildered. You expected to meet two or more men who were trafficking in cocaine, did you not?
Yes, sir.
You presumed that they would be dangerous, didn't you?
I didn't know.
Isn't it true that drug dealers often carry guns?
Yes.
Are they frequently violent men?
They can be.
And you went to meet these drug dealers, who were most probably armed, without backup?
It was stupid. In retrospect, I guess I should have brought help or called on Sheriff Mills to assist me.
So you lay your failure to bring backup to stupidity?
Vasquez nodded. I should have known better.
Could there have been another reason why you drove to the cabin alone?
Vasquez thought for a moment.
I' m afraid I don't understand the question.
Well, Detective, if there had been other officers there, they would have witnessed your illegal entry into the cabin and could have testified against you, couldn't they?
Objection, Scofield said. The court will decide if the entry was illegal.
Sustained, Judge Brody agreed.
Detective Vasquez, have you read the fingerprint report from the Oregon State Police?
Yes, sir.
Were your prints lifted from the crime scene?
No.
And why is that?
I wore latex gloves.
