GREENFIELD — A plea agreement in a drug case fell apart at the defendant’s sentencing this week when his lawyer raised questions about the police search that led to the arrest last March.
Instead, a hearing now will be held on whether evidence found in the search — including drugs, cash, and guns — will be suppressed in the case.
Ja Qwanta Streeter, 22, Anderson, faces five criminal charges, including two counts of felony drug dealing, after a Fortville police officer arrested him during a traffic stop.
Streeter had already agreed to plead guilty in an arrangement with prosecutors and was scheduled to receive his sentence Wednesday. That’s when the defendant’s attorney, Edward Walter, asked Judge Terry Snow to toss out the guilty plea and schedule a suppression hearing instead.
Walter said he wanted to present facts surrounding the arresting officer, Doug Durbin, who is no longer with the Fortville Police Department.
Before the judge made his decision, the defense attorney told the court his client had not given police permission to look in his car trunk, where the drugs and guns were found.
Around the time officials from the Hancock County prosecutors office had settled on a plea with Streeter, Durbin — who arrested Streeter — was disciplined by the police department, deputy prosecutor David Thornburg said.
Durbin, who received an award from the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council in 2016 for outstanding police work, resigned from the police department in the fall, Fortville public information officer Maj. Patrick Bratton said. Durbin had been disciplined, but the sanctions dealt more with internal policies and did not involve his handling of cases. Durbin’s resignation also had nothing to do with his job performance, Bratton said.
Still, the defense attorney asked Snow to withdraw the guilty plea, and the judge set Wednesday, Feb. 6, for the suppression hearing.
During the hearing to suppress the evidence, the defense will try to establish that the Fortville officer did something to violate Streeter’s rights.
“It will be up to them to present that evidence to the court,” Thornburg said.
Police say they stopped Streeter for speeding near downtown Fortville in March and searched the vehicle after detecting the odor of marijuana coming from the car.
Inside the vehicle, they found 175 illegal pills that were packaged for individual resale, a news release said.
They also found a large amount of marijuana, marijuana brownies, paraphernalia and other drugs, along with multiple weapons, including a loaded handgun Streeter wasn’t licensed to carry, a police news release said.
Police also found more than 500 rounds of ammunition in the car and several loaded magazines, the news release stated.
Streeter faces one Level 3 felony count of dealing a controlled substance; one Level 6 felony count of dealing marijuana; one Class A misdemeanor of carrying a handgun without a license; one Class A misdemeanor of possession of a controlled substance; and one Class B misdemeanor of possession of marijuana.
A Level 3 felony count carries a potential sentence of three to 16 years. A Level 6 felony count carries a potential sentence of six months to 2½ years. A Class A misdemeanor carries a potential sentence of up to one year, while a Class B misdemeanor carries a potential sentence of up to 180 days.
