A judge in the federal court in Boston suppressed $40,000 in cash seized from Attorney Goldenberg’s client’s van. Her client was the subject of a drug investigation by the DEA, which was still in its infancy. Agents procured a location-monitoring warrant for his cellphone and saw that he had driven out of state towards towards the tri-state area. Upon his return into Massachusetts the following day, DEA agents requested that the Massachusetts State Police pull over his car for a motor vehicle infraction and establish a basis to search the car.
The state trooper did as told and pulled over the driver for speeding. He then called for a police dog to go through the van. The trooper wore a body-worn camera and muted the microphone when he spoke to other officers. There were several times that he did not mute his microphone, however, and could be heard saying that the driver did not demonstrate unusual nervousness when pulled over, that he did not consent to the search of his car, and that the police dog did not alert while in the car. One or more of these factors are often cited to justify the search of an automobile that has been pulled over for a motor vehicle infraction. These recordings left the Government with no choice but to argue that there was probable cause to stop the suspect’s van based on travels, which included passing through Paterson, NJ. The lead agent testified that Paterson, NJ was a hub for drug activity and money laundering.
The judge held that there was not probable cause to believe that there would be evidence of criminal activity when the van was searched and the motion was allowed.
Given the weakened state of the Government’s case, Attorney Goldenberg has filed a motion to reconsider her client’s detention order.