AppId is over the quota
Lawyer challenges raid at client's apartmentBY DAVID LINTON SUN CHRONICLE STAFFWednesday, March 28, 2012 1:45 AM EDT
Dismissal of Attleboro case being sought ATTLEBORO - The lawyer for a man whose apartment was raided last week said Tuesday he will seek to have the case dismissed, contending that the search warrant was not valid.
J. Francis Gilbert, 24, was arrested last Thursday on drug charges after state and local police executed a "no-knock" search warrant looking for weapons at his third-floor apartment at 7 Sturdy St., according to court records.
No weapons were found, but police say they seized more than 50 assorted pills, including a small amount of the painkiller Percocet, three digital scales, needles, steroids and alleged drug paraphernalia, authorities said.
Gilbert's lawyer, Nicolas Gordon of Mansfield, said the search warrant was not valid because the confidential informant a state police detective relied on to obtain the court document did not actually see weapons inside his client's apartment.
"The entire case should be dismissed. Everything they found in the apartment should be suppressed," Gordon said. "Anybody at any time can say anything is in someone's apartment. That's not enough for a search warrant," Gordon said.
Gilbert is being held in jail without bail after his bail was revoked on an unrelated pending case. Gordon said he will seek to have the case dismissed April 24, when his client is due back in Attleboro District Court.
Although police found no weapons, Gilbert still can be prosecuted for the prescription drugs found in his apartment if the search warrant is determined to be valid.
However, if a judge agrees the search warrant was not valid, the likelihood is that any evidence, including the drugs, would be thrown out, leaving prosecutors without a case.
Gilbert pleaded innocent last Thursday and a lawyer representing him at his arraignment said some of the pills found in the apartment belonged to his aunt, who had a prescription for them and sometimes stayed with her nephew.
In his affidavit to support the search warrant, Trooper Paul Baker, a state police detective assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, cited a reliable informant who told him Gilbert kept a semi-automatic handgun and a shotgun in his apartment, according to a copy released by the court. The informant "states that these firearms are present and were present" in Gilbert's apartment "within the last week."
The informant gave a description of the weapons and also claims to have seen a military-style bulletproof vest with ballistic panels in the apartment, according to Baker's affidavit.
Gilbert has served jail time for multiple assault and battery charges, resisting arrest, possession of various drugs and driving recklessly, according to the affidavit.
In addition, Gilbert has pending charges of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, possession of mace, drug conspiracy, carrying a dangerous weapon, carjacking, breaking and entering and violation of a restraining order, according to the affidavit.
As a result of the raid, Gilbert faces additional charges of possession of Percocet pills with intent to distribute, in addition to possession of other prescription pills and steroids, and drug violations in a school zone.
DAVID LINTON can be reached at 508-236-0338 or at dlinton@thesunchronicle.com. Your Email is your "Member ID"
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