cannabisnews.com: City Cops Accused of Illegal Drug Search! 





City Cops Accused of Illegal Drug Search! 
Posted by FoM on January 16, 1999 at 11:30:26 PT

 A suspect in a drug case has accused police of illegally searching his apartment because his landlord was a police officer who wanted him evicted.
John Peter Fields, 57, a bounty hunter, was scheduled to stand trial Thursday in Municipal Court on charges of cocaine possession. But his lawyer filed a brief in state Superior Court challenging the warrant that police used to search Fields' apartment before he was charged. The case has been postponed.Fields' landlord on Passaic Street was Officer John Lira, and the two had a history of tension before Passaic Municipal Judge Wolf Samay signed a search warrant on Nov. 18, 1997, according to a brief filed for Fields by lawyer Damaris Solomon.Lira had taken Fields to court before the search in a dispute over rent, the brief states.Police conducted the search on Nov. 21, 1997; after they barged through the door, they saw Fields flushing a toilet and then jumping out a bathroom window, according to police reports. Fields was apprehended on Dec. 1, 1997, and charged with drug offenses including possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.He was evicted that same day, according to the brief.The brief says one of the Passaic officers involved in searching Fields' apartment was Detective Stewart Kennedy, who it said has owned property with Lira. The brief, which a judge may rule on as soon as next month, claims that Kennedy became involved "due to his interests with Mr. Lira/proprietor."The brief says that Lira's previous disputes with Fields and his relationship with Kennedy raise questions about the legitimacy of the search warrant, and any evidence obtained during the search. "Therefore, evidence seized should be considered fruit of the poisonous tree," the brief reads. "And subsequent arrest should be held illegal."However, Kennedy said Thursday that he was asked by his supervisor to join in a narcotics assignment, and that it wasn't until he arrived on the scene that he realized it was Lira's property.Lira declined comment.Three other suspects were arrested in the drug investigation, police said.The history between Fields and Lira is long and complicated. In May 1997, Fields filed criminal complaints against Lira in a dispute over political signs. Fields displayed a sign supporting the mayoral candidacy of Pedro Cancel, and argued that Lira, a supporter of Samuel Rivera, ordered Fields to remove the Cancel sign or "he would be sorry."Fields subsequently dropped the misdemeanor complaints.In another legal matter, Lira was scheduled to appear in state Superior Court today to resolve how much back pay the city owes him for an involuntary medical leave.Copyright © 1999 Bergen Record Corp. 
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