Legality of warrantless search of car questioned

The Office of the Public Defender has questioned the legality of a warrantless search of a car being driven by Ignacio Deleon Guerrero Demapan Jr., who was arrested in May for possession of methamphetamine or “ice” in Chalan Kanoa. Assistant public defender Michael A. Sato, counsel for Demapan, asked the Superior Court to suppress all evidence obtained from the search of Demapan’s person and vehicle without a warrant or other legal justification.

Sato asserted that the search violated Demapan’s constitutional right to be free from unlawful searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I of the CNMI Constitution.

The CNMI government has until Sept. 21 to oppose the motion. The court will hear the motion on Oct. 22 at 1:30pm.

Police officer David Hosono stopped Demapan in Chalan Kanoa on May 19, 2015.

According to Sato, Hosono was performing a routine periodic check, and did not see anything that would rise to reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing.

The defense lawyer said Hosono stopped Demapan’s car, detained him, and searched him without a warrant.

Sato said that, according to police, a ziploc bag containing a crystalline substance that tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine was seized from Demapan’s vehicle.

Sato said when a search is conducted without a warrant, the burden is on the government to prove that a search falls into one of the specific exceptions.

Police detective Rudolfo Saures Hermosilla Jr. stated in his report that while Hosono was doing a routine periodic check on poker arcades on Saipan, he saw a white tinted Toyota Prius with license plate ACV 853 parked on the road near Viva Poker along Petro Yobbo Avenue in Chalan Kanoa in the afternoon of May 19.

Honoso noticed that the car suddenly drove away and turned right into a residence without using signaling.

Hosono asked a young male, who was standing in front of his house, if he knows who owns the white car that had just parked at his residence. The boy replied he does not know the car and allowed the officer to check the car.

Hosono got down from the vehicle and approached the driver side window and knocked on it. The driver, later identified as Demapan, rolled down the window.

While talking with Demapan, Hosono allegedly saw a small ziplock bag containing white crystalline substance inside the open compartment above the passenger seat.

Demapan told the officer that he was not carrying his driver’s license or identification card and that he was at that residence to check his friend.

Hosono also allegedly saw another ziplock bag containing a white crystalline substance hidden behind a pack of cigarettes placed in the open compartment area and another ziplock bag with crystalline substance placed in a soda can in the center console.

The officer later released the car to Demapan’s parents. His mother works at the Office of the Attorney General.