The Vermont Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a man charged with felony crack cocaine possession because the justices determined the defendant had been illegally arrested and searched.
In the decision released Friday, the Supreme Court found that Asim Betts had not legally consented to be searched after the car he was riding in was stopped by a state trooper who had been told by a confidential informant a man with the driver had been seen with crack cocaine.
The trooper told the two that if they did not agree to be searched, the vehicle would be seized and they would be taken into custody while the trooper applied for a search warrant.
The trooper later found cocaine, but the court says Betts shouldn't have been in custody.
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