Judge scolds sheriff's deputies; suspect walks

COEUR d’ALENE — Charges were dismissed Thursday against a Coeur d’Alene man who was cuffed and held at gunpoint in Hayden for having a loud muffler and driving 6 mph over the speed limit.

Jaron A. Tanner, 25, walked freely out of Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court Thursday morning after Judge Lansing Haynes dismissed a methamphetamine and a paraphernalia charge against Tanner because deputies had detained him too long after a traffic stop before calling a drug dog.

“Deputies illegally and unconstitutionally delayed the detention of Mr. Tanner far beyond the purpose and the reason for the stop,” Haynes said.

According to a report by Kootenai County deputies, Tanner, who was represented in court by public defender Ben Onosko, left a known drug house in Hayden on May 9 after stopping briefly. He drove south on Government Way around midnight in a white Honda Prelude with a loud exhaust. When the speed zone changed from 35 to 25, he stomped on his brake, but was clocked at 31 mph in the slower zone.

A deputy stopped the Prelude and with his firearm drawn, ordered Tanner from the car, cuffing him and then taking almost an hour to write Tanner two tickets for speeding and the loud muffler as he waited for a K-9 unit to arrive. Police are only allowed to detain people long enough to write tickets, and run checks.

“It is the court’s belief that those citations were never written,” Haynes said.

More than an hour later, after the drug dog alerted on the Prelude, Tanner was arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine, which carries a maximum seven-year prison term if convicted, and for having drug paraphernalia.

Haynes urged deputies to attend Thursday’s hearing to explain the reason for the lengthy stop, he said, but no one from the sheriff’s office attended the hearing.

“There was reasonable suspicion to pull over the car for a loud muffler and speeding,” Haynes said. “The court is concerned now that law enforcement had a hunch … and based on that, engaged in a premeditated procedure” that was illegal.

Haynes suppressed the evidence, resulting in the dismissal of the case.

“This is an intentional violation of a citizen’s constitutional rights and cannot be tolerated by the court,” Haynes said.