State of Maine v. Gross

STATE OF MAINE UNIFIED CRIMINAL COURT
CUMBERLAND, ss. PORTLAND
Docket No. CDCR-18-2558

STATE OF MAINE cuniboi:; rt: o~ .J
cJ, Ss, Cf~~(N~
M4y O ('so,,,ce
V. /y~C J 2Q/g ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S
""' ~f V'/i. MOTION TO SUPPRESS
BRENT GROSS )D
)
Defendant )

A hearing was held on Defendant's Motion to Suppress on March 14, 2019.
Assistant Attorney General Johanna Gauvreau appeared on behalf of the State.
Defendant appeared, represented by Attorney Kristine Hanly.

Defendant seeks to suppress all of the evidence resulting from his detention and
arrest. He alleges that he was iHegally detained and that the police did not have probable
cause to arrest him and that the evidence seized related to the search of his vehicle and
evidence seized as a result of a search of his person at the jail were obtained in violation
of his Fourth Amendment rights and should be suppressed.

The court heard testimony from Sergeant Michael Loranger of the Westbrook
Police Department. Sgt. Loranger testified that he was dispatched to the Dunkin' Donuts
parking lot in the Kohl's plaza in Westbrook for the report of an unresponsive male in his
vehicle. When Sgt. Loranger, along with Officers Smith and McCarthy arrived at the
scene, he observed a BMW parked unevenly taking up two parking spaces a few feet
away from the curb. When he approached the vehicle, he observed that the driver's side
vehicle window was down and the male driver was unconscious. Sgt. Loranger
recognized the driver to be Brent Gross from prior police contacts. He knew him to be a
user of illicit drugs. Sgt. Loranger attempted to wake up the defendant and was
eventually successful in doing so. Mr. Gross had a brown substance coming out of his
nose. When he finally awoke his voice was raspy and his pupils were constricted. Sgt.
Loranger recognized these as signs of impairment due to drug use based on his training
and experience. Mr. Gross explained to Sgt. Loranger that he thought he had only been

Entered on the Docket: 5-~-/q
asleep for approximately twenty minutes. Employees at Dunkin' Donuts told the officers
that they had observed Gross parked and in his vehicle for approximately two hours.
The officers asked Mr. Gross to exit the vehicle as he had exhibited signs of
impairment, as described above. When he did he walked to the front of his vehicle and
had a conversation with Officer Jeremy Smith. Officer Smith testified that he was a canine
handler with the Westbrook Police Department but had prior experience working for the
Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. He also has experience as a Drug Recognition Expert.
Officer Smith also noted that Mr. Gross' speech was slow and voice was raspy. While
Officer Smith was speaking to Mr. Gross, Sgt. Loranger and Officer McCarthy were near
the front driver's side door that remained open when Mr. Gross exited the vehicle. Sgt.
Loranger then observed an orange pill on the driver's side seat. Based on the officers'
training and experience seeing a single pill loose and outside of a prescription bottle is
indicative of illegal drug use. Based on how they found Mr. Gross, that he was asleep in
his car for an extended period of time, that he parked his car crooked taking up two
spaces, the brown substance around his nose, his slow speech and raspy voice, his
constricted pupils, and the single pill found on the driver's side seat, the officers believed
that Mr. Gross was engaged in criminal activity. The officers seized the pill and called
dispatch, gave them the description of the pill and were able to ascertain that the pill was
a generic brand of Flexeril, Cyclobenzaprine, a scheduled drug that requires a
prescription. The officers asked Mr. Gross if he had a prescription which he denied. The
officers then placed Mr. Gross under arrest for Unlawful Possession of a Scheduled Drug.
The officers then searched his vehicle and found a hypodermic needle and a small glass
bottle containing testosterone. The Defendant was transported to the Cumberland
County Jail where a search of his person revealed that he was in possession of 72 grams
of Fentanyl.

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects individuals
from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. Warrantless searches are
per se unreasonable subject to a few exceptions, one of them being the "plain view
doctrine". Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347. This doctrine permits a warrantless seizure
of incriminating evidence if three conditions are met:
1) The Officer must not have violated the Fourth Amendment in arriving at the
place in which the evidence is in plain view;
2) The incriminating character of the items to be seized must be immediately
apparent and;
3) The officer must have a lawful right of access to them.

The Court finds that the State met the three conditions required under the "plain
view doctrine". The Court further finds that the Officers did not violate the Defendant1 s
Fourth Amendment rights. The officers had a lawful right to be in the area based on the
facts that were presented above. The pill that was recovered was in plain sight after the
Defendant got out of the car, left his door open with the window down on a clear sunny
day. Based on the officers' collective training and experience as drug recognition experts
and working for the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the ·pm seized was evidence of
illegal activity. The confirmation that the pill was a scheduled drug gave the officers
probable cause to arrest and charge the defendant with the crilne of Unlawful Possession
of a Scheduled Drug. All further evidence seized was done so lawfully.

It is accordingly hereby ORDERED that the Defen t' s Motion to Suppress is
DENIED in its entirety.

DATED: sb£q aria A. Woodman
Judge, Unified Criminal Court
STATE OF MAINE CRIMINAL DOCKET
vs CUMBERLAND, ss.
B'RENT F GROSS Docket No CUMCD-CR-2018-02558
90 UNION AVE
OLD ORCHARD BEACH ME 04064
DOCKET RECORD
DOB: 11/30/1988
Attorney: KR IST INE HA NLY State's Attorney: STEPHANIE ANDERSON
LAW OFFI F.S OF KRISTINE C HANLY LLC
217 COMMERCIAL ST SUITE 205
PORTLAND ME 04101
APPOINTED 07/ 11/20 l8
Filing Document: CRIMINAL COMPLAINT Major Case Type: FELONY (CLASS A,B,C)
Filing Date: 05/16/2018
Charge(s)
1 UNLAWFUL TRAFFICKING IN SCHEDULED DRUGS 05/04/2018 PORTLAND
Seq 8541 17-A 1103(1-A)(A) Class B
HOLMES / CUM
2 ASSAULT ON AN OFFICER 05/04/2018 PORTLAND
Seq 9324 17-A 752-A( I )(B) Class C
HOLMES / CUM
3 TRAFFICKING IN PRISON CONTRABAND 05/04/2018 PORTLAND
Seq 4535 17-A 757( 1)(8) Class C
HOLMES / CUM
4 UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF FENTANYL POWDER 05/04/2018 PORTLAND
Seq 13381 17-A l 107-A(l)(B)(8) Class C Charged with INDICTMENT on Supplemental Filing.
ROBINSON I MDE
5 RECKLESS CONDUCT 05/04/2018 PORTLAND
Seq 6.16 17-A 211(1) Class D Charged with INDICTMENT on Supplemental Filing.
ROI1 l1 "'ON MDE
6 FALSIFYING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 05/04/2018 PORTLAND
Seq 48:L 17-A 455(l)(A) Class D Charged with INDICTMENT on Supplemental Filing.
ROB IN S / MDE
7 U LAWFUL POSSESSION OF SCHEDULED DRUG 05/04/2018 PORTLAND
Seq 857 17-A 1107-A(l)(F) Class E Charged with INDICTMENT on Supplemental Filing.
ROR IN ON / MDE
Docket Events:
05/16/2018 FILING DOCUMENT - CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FILED ON 05/16/2018

05/16/2018 WARRANT- ON AFFIDAVIT ORDERED ON 05/16/2018

05/!6/2018 WARRANT - ON AFFIDAVIT ISSUED ON 05/16/2018

05/17/2018 NOTE- OTHER CASE NOTE ENTERED ON 05/17/2018
SARAH HEAD, ASSISTANT CLERK
DEF UPDATED ADDRESS TO 93 WEST GRAY RD GRAY ME 04039
05/18/2018 NOTE- OTHER CASE NOTE ENTERED ON 05/18/2018
SARAH HEAD, ASSISTANT CLERK
DEF UPD/\TF,D A TEM PORARY ADD I •S,:. HI S A PARTMENT IS NOT RF.ADY YET A D WILL BE STAYING AT THE
OXFORD STREET . Hl-:LTER . ) CE Al7 1' IS READY HE WILL BE BACK T THE El\ VEY ST ADDRESS IN
WESTBROOK
05/18/2018 WARRANT- ON AFFIDAVIT EXECUTED BY AGENCY ON 05/18/2018 at 03:07 p.m.

05/22/2018 BAIL BOND - $500.00 CASH BAIL BOND FILED ON 05/21/2018

Bail Receipt Type: CR
Bail Amt: $500
'lO Page I of 8 Printed on: 05/06/2019