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CA7: Being in a drug house is not "merely present" as in Ybarra

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was not “merely present” as in Ybarra. He was in a drug house, and there was probable cause as to everybody. United States v. Nelson, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14193 (7th Cir. July 12, 2010) (unpublished): The police had probable cause to arrest Nelson at Tompkins's home because, unlike Ybarra, the arrest here is based on more than his "mere presence" near criminal activity in a public place of lawful business. Nelson was present in a private dwelling that, with its drug paraphernalia, drug transactions, lack of furnishings and no running water, appeared to have no lawful purpose. In United States v. Pace, 898 F.2d 1218, 1240 (7th Cir. 1990), we rejected the defendants' argument that the police lacked probable cause to arrest them where officers executing a search warrant for a home suspected to be a site for drug-dealing observed the defendants exiting rooms in which the police found large quantities of either drugs or money out in the open...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 14, 2010 (boomark / email).