Mr. K was driving on the I-40 when a Mohave County Sheriff’s Deputy stated that he was following a truck too closely. He also claimed he was traveling 80 in a 70 miles per hour zone. After Mr. K was pulled over, the Deputy had a dog circle his vehicle. The Deputy claimed the dog alerted to drugs. Eventually, Mr. K stated he had money in the car. As the Deputy began searching the car, he was about to cut off the locks to a toolbox when Mr. K said “you can’t do that.“ A search warrant was never obtained because they couldn’t get one at that time.

Once the locks were cut off the toolbox, $20,000 in cash was found inside. Mr. K told Officers that it was investors’ money for dirt bikes that were in San Diego. After the locks were cut, Mr. K asked multiple times “is this legal.” Because the money was all twenty-dollar bills wrapped in Ziploc baggies, Mr. K was arrested for Money Laundering and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. When Officers began questioning him, he stated “do I need a lawyer because I don’t want to incriminate myself.” He also said “I believe I should talk to a lawyer.” However, Officers continued to question him relentlessly.

We ultimately filed a Motion to Dismiss for both Illegal Search and Seizure, and Violation of Right to Counsel. These Motions were filed on September 21, 2017.  By October 10, 2017, the Prosecutor filed a Motion to Dismiss all charges.