Court: Fanny pack drug evidence admissible in trial

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Drug and cellphone evidence found in a fanny pack during an illegal search is admissible in court since it would have been inevitably found during a warranted search, according to a decision by the Court of Appeals District 1.

Robert Janiel Goines was arrested on Oct. 5, 2016, in West Allis on suspicion he provided drugs that caused two women to overdose on heroin and cocaine. A confidential source led to the arrest of Goines’ partner, who sold the drugs to the women. After Goines’ arrest but before obtaining a search warrant, police searched a fanny pack that he removed and left in his garage. The fanny pack contained heroin, cocaine and two cell phones linked to drug activities.

In the search warrant application and affidavit, the police included allegations about the fanny pack and its contents among other allegations. After obtaining a search warrant, the police searched Goines’ residence and found two firearms, bulletproof vests, $18,420 in cash and drug-related items.

Goines moved to suppress the evidence from the fanny pack and his custodial interrogation. The court found that the fanny pack evidence would have inevitably been discovered during the warranted search and denied the motion to suppress the evidence in the fanny pack.

In a jury trial, Gones was found guilty of two counts of first-degree reckless homicide, by the delivery of drugs, as a party to a crime, and one count of conspiracy to deliver heroin, three grams or less, as a second offense, with the habitual criminality repeater penalty enhancer. He later moved for postconviction relief, claiming his trial counsel conceded guilt against his wishes. He was granted a new trial.

Before the new trial, Goines again moved to suppress the fanny pack evidence, arguing the inevitable discovery finding was erroneous. The court reaffirmed its earlier decision, concluding the evidence would have been found during the lawful search of the garage. Goines resolved the charges with a plea, entering no contest pleas to two counts of first-degree reckless homicide. He was sentenced to concurrent sentences of 12 years of initial confinement and 14 years of extended supervision.

Goines argued the fanny pack evidence should not have been admitted under the “inevitable discovery” doctrine. The court rejected this, finding the search warrant application had probable cause even without the fanny pack evidence, and the fanny pack would have been discovered during a lawful search.

“The state has demonstrated that, without considering the fanny pack evidence, the police had probable cause to search Goines’s residence, which included the garage, and that in the lawful search of that residence, the fanny pack evidence would have inevitably been discovered.  Therefore, we conclude that the motion to suppress was properly denied,” the court wrote.