A Delaware Superior Court judge says Dover Police violated a man’s 4th Amendment rights when they found cocaine in his prosthetic leg.
Dover Police arrested Marlow Holmes in January as part of an undercover investigation, eventually finding nearly 29 grams of cocaine in his prosthetic leg after conducting a strip search following a traffic stop.
In his opinion, Judge Jeffrey Clark says that search was unlawful because undercover detective Scott Hurd didn’t participate in the arrest and didn’t tell other police officers he had probable cause that Marlow picked up drugs earlier that day.
Had Hurd done so, Clark says the search would have been valid.
Hurd was the state’s only witness during an August hearing to determine the legality of the search. That also played a role in the decision.
Clark says without testimony from another officer involved, he can’t say whether they had probable cause to conduct the search, since Marlow was only stopped for a seatbelt violation and no other evidence was presented regarding the encounter.
A spokesperson for the state attorney general’s office says all charges have been dropped and that they have no plans for further prosecution.
Marlow had been facing drug dealing, drug possession and drug paraphernalia charges.