Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
DAVENPORT – Presiding judge Dan B. Johnson denied a motion Tuesday to suppress in a 3.6 hearing concerning a search warrant conducted at 1311 Logan Street prior to the arrests of Michelle L. Hopkins and Scotty Duane Maiden on charges of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first and second degree in late December 2020.
Hopkins is now facing 25 counts regarding the above charges.
Johnson had ruled that a thumb drive containing body camera footage from Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputy Kurt Cuzzetto of the search warrant executed at Hopkins’ Logan Street apartment and a neighboring apartment that reportedly belonged to Nancy Collier could be submitted as an exhibit for trial Dec. 6.
However, he waited to make a decision on allowing the search warrant to be used as an exhibit for trial while investigating whether deputies were within their legal rights to search and retrieve an iPhone from Collier’s apartment as Hopkins’ defense filed a motion to suppress.
Cuzzetto and sergeant Jerad McLagan had testified that Collier gave consent for officers to enter her apartment, where a black iPhone containing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct was found, according to records. Hopkins had told Cuzzetto that phone was in Collier’s apartment, the deputy testified.
At a Dec. 21 court appearance, Johnson said Collier consented to McLagan and Cuzzetto entering her apartment, meaning a search warrant wasn’t necessary for them to enter. He also said Collier was free to give consent to officers as a concerned citizen, and officers had a valid reason to be there after Hopkins told deputies the phone was in Collier’s apartment.
Johnson therefore denied the motion to suppress the search warrant as evidence while clarifying that Collier isn’t a suspect in the case, saying evidence is strong that she was merely a social bystander in the incident.
Hopkins’ defense attorney, Victoria Iverson, then announced that the defense would be filing a claim that Hopkins had diminished capacity mentally. Johnson clarified that this didn’t mean Hopkins is pleading insanity, and Iverson said a psychiatrist was due to interview Hopkins.
Hopkins was found competent to stand trial after an evaluation earlier this year.
A follow-up court date wasn’t scheduled Tuesday. Johnson had scheduled a readiness hearing for Feb. 1 in late November.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
Reader Comments(0)