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West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reverses decision in Wood County case

(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

PARKERSBURG – The West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals Of West Virginia reversed a decision by a Wood County Circuit Court Judge to deny a motion to suppress and had a suspect’s drug convictions vacated.

In an order dated Nov. 12, the court reversed a decision by Wood County Court Judge JD Beane in the June 2022 case of Michael Keith Allman.

In September 2022, a Wood County Grand Jury returned a six-count indictment against Allman, charging him with one count of felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, second offense; two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, second offense; one count of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance; one count of felony possession of a firearm by a prohibited person; and one count of felony possession of a concealed firearm by a prohibited person.

On the evening of June 4, 2022, a Parkersburg police officer arrested Allman pursuant to an outstanding warrant. Once Allman was handcuffed, the officer seized a backpack that Allman had been carrying but had set down prior to his arrest. After backup arrived and secured the scene, the officers searched the backpack and found drugs, digital scales and ammunition.

Allman appeals his convictions following a three-day jury trial in the Wood County Circuit Court where he sought to set aside his drug-related convictions and challenged the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained from the search of his backpack.

Allman asserted the evidence was illegally seized after an unlawful warrantless search. Specifically, Allman argued that it was not reasonable for the arresting officer to believe that Allman could have accessed the backpack at the time of the search because Allman was secured in handcuffs and not within reaching distance of the backpack.

The court documents referenced testimony by Sgt. Arnold McGary of the Parkersburg Police Department where he encountered Allman and others in an open garage at Pro-Line Collision at around 9 p.m. and called him by name. The paperwork details Allman being in possession of a backpack during the encounter where he eventually left it on the ground behind a vehicle where it was retrieved by the officer to prevent others in the garage from doing anything to it until other officers arrived a short time later.

The court documents said McGary looked in the bag because they already found a weapon and they weren’t sure if another weapon was in the bag.

“On April 5, 2023, the circuit court entered its order denying Mr. Allman’s motion to suppress,” the court documents said. “The court found that the backpack was in Mr. Allman’s immediate possession when Sgt. McGary first saw him and concluded that `Sgt. McGary made a reasonable and lawful search of the defendant’s backpack incident to a lawful arrest.'”

A trial was held May 31, 2023, and on June 2, a jury returned a guilty verdict on all six counts of the indictment and he was sentenced 4-20 years on count one; 2-20 years on count two, 2-30 years on count 3, six months on count four, five years on count five and five years on count six with the sentences for counts one, two, four and six running consecutively.

Allman is appealing his drug related convictions, alleging the circuit court erred in denying his motion to suppress.

Allman argues that the search of the backpack violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article III, section 6 of the West Virginia Constitution regarding “unreasonable searches” and whether Allman had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The state maintained Allman abandoned the backpack when he set it down behind the vehicle.

The Supreme Court said the circuit court erred in denying Allman’s motion to suppress.

The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court’s order denying the motion to suppress and vacated Allman’s drug convictions under counts one through four of the indictment and remanded this matter to the Wood County Circuit Court for further proceedings.

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