A Janesville man facing felonies for drug sales and possession had all charges against him dismissed after a judge ruled that law enforcement officers illegally obtained evidence against him.
Judge Gregory Anderson dismissed the charges against Lance Michael Utz, 38, on Friday in Blue Earth County District Court.
The charges stemmed from an incident in September 2022 when Blue Earth County sheriff’s deputies pulled over Utz on a motorcycle on Highway 22. One of the deputies reported knowing Utz had a revoked driver’s license, according to Anderson’s court order for dismissal, and that he had prior drug charges.
The court order states a deputy asked if Utz, who was wearing a backpack, had a driver’s license. Utz said he didn’t, reported he had lost his wallet, and responded “no” to a question asking if it was in his backpack.
The deputies asked about his backpack three more times, along with asking if his license had been revoked. Utz confirmed his license had been revoked, according to the order, and reportedly only opened a zipped pouch in his backpack after the fourth time that deputies asked him about it.
As the deputies crowded close and began looking inside, they continued to “prod” Utz to open more pockets. Eventually they arrested Utz after reportedly finding methamphetamine, a meth pipe and marijuana in the bag.
The order states the deputies had sufficient cause to pull Utz over and had all evidence required to find Utz was driving without a license. After the deputies persistently asked about Utz’s backpack despite him clearly responding that his wallet and license weren’t in there, however, “no reasonable articulable suspicion existed to persist” in the investigation.
“The search of Mr. Utz’s backpack was not by consent and was an illegal expansion of the stop for a revoked driver’s license,” the judge wrote.
Even if a deputy knew that Utz has been in custody for past drug charges, the judge wrote, “past convictions cannot be used as a free pass to infringe on citizen’s rights under the Fourth Amendment.”
Because the evidence was discovered through the “illegal exploitation of previous illegal conduct,” it was inadmissible in the case.
While in custody, Utz reportedly called his girlfriend to tell her to move items from a home to a camper. A search warrant executed on the camper reportedly turned up more drugs.
This evidence, obtained through the phone call, was ruled to be gained through the initial illegal conduct of the deputies in searching the backpack.
“The information is only gained based on the lowered level of privacy the individual has due to being taken into custody,” the judge wrote. “If the reason for being taken into custody is based on illegal conduct by law enforcement, then the evidence gained from the greater intrusions of privacy permitted while in custody cannot be admissible.”