Author Topic: Man Arrested For Having Concealed Compartment in Vehicle | CNSNews.com  (Read 993 times)

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Offline aligncare

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A man was arrested in Ohio for having a hidden compartment in a vehicle and could face up to 18 months in prison, even though there was nothing in the compartment.

Just days before Thanksgiving, 30- year old Norman Gurley was pulled over for speeding, but Ohio State Troopers noticed wires running to the back of the car he was driving.

“During the search, they noticed some components inside the vehicle that did not appear to be factory,” Lt. Michael Combs told WKYC-TV.

"We actually figured it out and followed the wiring and we were able to get it open," said Combs.

[video:1]

There were no illegal drugs or weapons in the compartment, but Gurley became the first person arrested under the state’s “hidden compartment” law.

The Ohio law passed last year prohibits, “designing, building, constructing, fabricating, modifying, or altering a vehicle to create or add a hidden compartment with the intent to facilitate the unlawful concealment or transportation of a controlled substance, prohibit operating, possessing, or using a vehicle with a hidden compartment with knowledge that the hidden compartment is used or intended to be used to facilitate the unlawful concealment or transportation of a controlled substance.”

This law makes driving a car with a concealed compartment intended to carry a controlled substance a felony.

Troopers reportedly noticed an overwhelming smell of marijuana, which gave them probable cause to search the vehicle and led to the discovery of the compartment.

http://www.cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/eric-scheiner/man-arrested-having-concealed-compartment-vehicle


Online massadvj

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Re: Man Arrested For Having Concealed Compartment in Vehicle | CNSNews.com
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2013, 02:37:57 am »
This looks like a good case for Oceander. 

Offline DCPatriot

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Re: Man Arrested For Having Concealed Compartment in Vehicle | CNSNews.com
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2013, 02:38:35 am »
This looks like a good case for Oceander.

Was thinking the same thing.  LOL!
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

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Oceander

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Re: Man Arrested For Having Concealed Compartment in Vehicle | CNSNews.com
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2013, 03:38:24 am »
Unless he gets a really friendly jury, a friendly judge, or a spectacularly incompetent persecutor, I mean prosecutor, he's going to be better off taking a plea to something lesser.  Granted that the hard part of making out the charge is proving that he knew the compartment was intended to be used to transport contraband, in this case, assuming that the cops will dig up something other than just the smell (I'll assume for the sake of argument that they'll forgo falsifying evidence in this one case), the persecutor, I mean prosecutor, will probably have little trouble convincing a jury that the smell was circumstantial evidence that this guy knew what the compartment was for.

Taking a plea as a way of cutting off the risks of betting wrong is anathema, but it's the way the world works (the world is most definitely not fair, particularly to someone who's been accused, rightly or wrongly, of a crime).

Online massadvj

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Re: Man Arrested For Having Concealed Compartment in Vehicle | CNSNews.com
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2013, 02:11:54 pm »
Unless he gets a really friendly jury, a friendly judge, or a spectacularly incompetent persecutor, I mean prosecutor, he's going to be better off taking a plea to something lesser.  Granted that the hard part of making out the charge is proving that he knew the compartment was intended to be used to transport contraband, in this case, assuming that the cops will dig up something other than just the smell (I'll assume for the sake of argument that they'll forgo falsifying evidence in this one case), the persecutor, I mean prosecutor, will probably have little trouble convincing a jury that the smell was circumstantial evidence that this guy knew what the compartment was for.

Taking a plea as a way of cutting off the risks of betting wrong is anathema, but it's the way the world works (the world is most definitely not fair, particularly to someone who's been accused, rightly or wrongly, of a crime).

You're probably right.  The law seems ridiculously onerous to me. 

Offline xfreeper

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Re: Man Arrested For Having Concealed Compartment in Vehicle | CNSNews.com
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2013, 02:23:27 pm »

Troopers reportedly noticed an overwhelming smell of marijuana

of course they did

Offline DCPatriot

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Re: Man Arrested For Having Concealed Compartment in Vehicle | CNSNews.com
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2013, 02:30:36 pm »
Troopers reportedly noticed an overwhelming smell of marijuana

of course they did

One wordL   OZIOM!   http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/151119771987?lpid=82
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald