Charges Dropped Against Jefferson County Sheriff And Deputy
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
A judge says a state law used to charge
Jefferson County Sheriff Boe Fontaine and a deputy with
misdemeanors is unconstitutional, and has thrown out the charges.
Special Judge Russell Rogers of Stuttgart said Wednesday that
the state law under which the two were charged requires a law
officer to ignore the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution as
to probable cause and search and seizures.
The law under which Fontaine and Deputy Dane Reed were charged
requires sheriffs or deputies to arrest operators of suspected
gambling operations as soon as the authorities know of their
existence.
Rogers said that strict compliance with the statute would result
in cases being thrown out of court.
The charges were brought last summer by a special prosecutor
after a June 19th raid by the FBI, state police and Jefferson
County prosecutors and the arrest of three people at a sports
gambling site on US 270 between White Hall and Sheridan.
