Idaho Supreme Court rules against accused drug dealers

The Idaho Supreme Court has upheld a Bannock County district court case involving a Rigby couple arrested at the US District Courthouse in Pocatello in March of 2017.

According to the Supreme Court, John Mullins and his wife, Tera, were arrested at the courthouse after security officials found a vial of methamphetamine, 65 plastic baggies, and $403 in Tera’s backpack.

Before taking the couple to jail, the couple’s personal effects,including Tera’s backpack were returned to the Mullins’ pickup in the parking lot on Tera’s instructions.

Later on, a K-9 officer ran his drug dog around the pickup and the dog positively alerted to the presence of drugs.

A search warrant was issued for the pickup based on the dog’s alert and other evidence seized from the backpack. During the search, officers turned up more methamphetamine in the pickup.

Mullins wanted to suppress that evidence. He argued that law enforcement misled the judge, by failing to note that the dog would have alerted on the back pack.

The district court disagreed and said there was sufficient evidence to issue the warrant, even without the dog sniff.

The Idaho Supreme Court agreed with the district court decision and determined there was no effort to omit information or mislead the judge.