Published: June 24, 2008 11:03 am         

Charges dropped in Carroll County bomb case

Judge ruled police lacked legal basis for initial search

DELPHI — After a judge threw out evidence obtained in an illegal search, the Carroll County prosecutor’s office dropped its case on a man accused of possessing large amounts of drugs, guns and bombs.

Carroll County Prosecutor Tricia Thompson recently filed a motion to dismiss the nine felony counts she had been pursuing against 28-year-old Jessie Snider. Circuit Judge Donald Currie granted the motion last week.

Snider was arrested in October after police found homemade explosive material, two pipe bombs, a detonation cord, an assault rifle, a Chinese throwing star, anti-government propaganda and 16 marijuana plants in his barn and home at 1246W 400S, 10 miles southeast of Delphi.

Snider, who previously served in the U.S. Army, was charged with nine felonies, including possession of destructive devices, possession of a machine gun and dealing in marijuana, after two police searches of his property.

The searches were conducted after Todd Pekny, an Indiana Department of Natural Resources officer, heard gunshots coming from Snider’s house just before midnight on Oct. 27. A preliminary, warrantless search of the area led to the discovery of a suspicious bag, which police used as reason to obtain two warrants.

But Currie ruled in April that there was no probable cause for the original search, thus violating the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That made all of the evidence obtained in the searches inadmissible in court.

“The uninvited warrantless entry by law enforcement officers upon the private property of the defendant, with guns drawn, and a demand that the defendant and his invited guest leave the garage area, is both unreasonable and unlawful,” the ruling stated.

The decision killed the prosecutor’s case, Thompson said in a phone interview on Monday, noting that the searches made up all of the state’s evidence.

“The court’s ruling on the defendant’s motion to suppress renders the available evidence insufficient to proceed with prosecution,” said Thompson, who has been in office 18 months.

Thompson is discussing with the state attorney general’s office whether to appeal the ruling in an attempt to win back the evidence. She said she would decide by the end of the week.

While one of Snider’s attorneys, Ross Thomas, acknowledged that the case was dismissed because of “the way the system works,” he rejected the idea that his client had gotten off on a legal “technicality.”

“I never think the Constitution of the United States is a technicality, so if some people take that view, I would strongly disagree with them,” he said Monday. “We have to ensure that all of us can be safe and secure in our house without the authorities just coming in and giving us a hard time.”

Snider, who has been out of jail since posting a $5,000 cash bond in November, is interested in regaining his non-contraband property, Thomas said. No official request has yet been filed.

Meanwhile, Snider is hoping to get past the eight-month legal battle, Thomas said.

“Obviously he’s pleased and looking forward to getting on with his life,” he said.

Brian Rosenthal can be reached at (574) 732-5148, or via e-mail at brian.rosenthal@pharostribune.com