Court upholds meth case suppressed evidence ruling

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, affirmed a local judge's ruling Tuesday to suppress evidence in a methamphetamine-related case, resulting in the dismissal of drug charges against a Jackson man.

Investigators arrested Jonathan Childress, 33, last January after he purchased 96 pseudoephedrine pills at one Cape Girardeau store and immediately drove to another store to buy lithium batteries. Officers testified this conduct was typical of someone buying the ingredients with an intent to make meth, and that's why they stopped his car. Childress confessed his intentions to make methamphetamine to the investigators, but Judge William Syler decided the traffic stop should not have occurred and suppressed the evidence and confession, said Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

The Court of Appeals affirmed Syler's ruling that Childress' purchases did not amount to reasonable suspicion. Swingle said he was disappointed in the outcome but believes this will be educational for law enforcement on how to better prepare a case.

"What this case teaches law enforcement is that when you have suspicious activity, it's safer to let the suspect commit a traffic offense and then pull him over than to just pull him over based on reasonable suspicion," Swingle said.

The appellate ruling won't be published in Missouri law books, and because it is not a formal opinion of the court it sets no precedent for future cases, Swingle said.