Judge rules against search

Marijuana found in motel room not reason police were dispatched

A Blair County judge has ruled that evidence of possible drug violations obtained by police during a search last May of a room in an area motel cannot be used against the Altoona man who was eventually charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The decision by Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard effectively ends the case against 33-year-old Tracey Kerry Serrano Jr., who claimed the marijuana found by Logan Township police in his room at the Rodeway Inn, 1500 Sterling St., was medically prescribed.

But the marijuana found in the motel room was not the reason why police went to the inn at 3 a.m. on May 15.

Police had received a call from an unidentified woman who said that while trying to purchase drugs from two Black males at the inn, a gun was pointed at her.

She said the incident occurred either in Room 214 or Room 215 at the inn.

Concerned about possible gun violence, three township patrol officers, Shea Stayer, Ben Stanholtz and Christopher Blough, were dispatched to the motel, and with guns drawn, roused the guests in both rooms as they investigated the gun complaint.

The woman indicated in her call that she was wearing a pink shirt and a jacket and that she would be outside the motel.

Police could not find her, and she later called the dispatch center to indicate that what she thought was a gun may have been a dark-colored cellphone.

After talking to the individuals in the two rooms, police began to focus on Serrano, who had a marijuana blunt behind his right ear.

During the discussion with Serrano and another man in the room, police received permission to check the room for "guns."

The search turned up no guns, although the man in the room with Serrano possessed a "small knife," which police confiscated before undertaking their search. During the search, police found three bags of marijuana inside a five-gallon bag, digital scales and sandwich bags.

Serrano argued with police that the marijuana was for his medical use and showed a card indicating he was a medical marijuana user.

Police charged him with two offenses: possession with intent to deliver, a felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

Serrano's Philadelphia attorney, David S. Nenner, filed a pretrial motion asking Bernard to suppress the evidence, which she granted.

In her analysis of the case, Bernard emphasized the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution bars "unreasonable searches and seizures" of a person's residence.

She explained that when it comes to interactions between police and citizens, there are three categories that apply to the Serrano case.

Police are permitted to question a person, a situation considered a "mere encounter."

But, when police detain an individual for investigatory purposes they must have a "reasonable suspicion" that criminal activity is occurring.

If police decide to arrest a person, that arrest must be based on an even higher standard of evidence -- probable cause.

Blair County Assistant District Attorney Katelyn Hoover argued that police found the marijuana and scales during a "mere encounter" with Serrano, but Bernard found that the encounter with the defendant rose to at least "investigative detention" when police, at gunpoint, ordered Serrano to exit his motel room with his hands in the air.

Police were concerned about the presence of a gun or guns in the room and that was why they requested permission to search the room.

It was during that search -- for a gun -- that they found the marijuana.

"Reasonable cause necessary for investigative detention (involving the drug offenses) did not exist," the judge reasoned.

She found, "The seizure without the requisite level of suspicion taints the rest of the police interaction with the defendant and any information gathered therefrom, including the marijuana blunt behind the defendant's ear during the police contact."

She stated that Serrano initially denied police requests to search the room but permission was given when officers indicated the search would be for "weapons."

"The search and seizure of the marijuana and paraphernalia exceeded the scope of the consent to search granted by the defendant," the judge ruled.

Assistant District Attorney Hoover said Thursday that a decision has not yet been made whether to appeal Bernard's ruling to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

The woman who initially complained about being threatened with a gun was not identified.