Judge tosses out meth lab evidence

PALMER -- A Wasilla man arrested for allegedly operating a methamphetamine lab might walk away from the charge unscathed.

Superior Court Judge Eric Smith ruled Jan. 8 that evidence against David T. Nelson is inadmissible because it was gained with a faulty search warrant.

Nelson, 36, was one of four Wasilla residents arrested Sept. 4, 2003, and charged with running a meth lab in a home off Knik-Goose Bay Road. Members of the Mat-Su Drug Team said the lab in a downstairs bedroom had three microwave ovens, a gas generator mounted over two of the ovens, numerous glass containers, pseudoephedrine tablets, several bottles of Heet and other supplies used in meth production.

However, Smith said Friday during Nelson's bail hearing, "The evidence was thrown out because of the quality of the search warrant. I ruled by the way the search warrant was written."

Nelson's attorney, Dave Berry, said there was good reason for the decision.

"The judge said there was insufficient probable cause to support the warrant," Berry said during an interview. "People may feel it's a technicality but it's actually a constitutional question."

It relates to the Fourth Amendment which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, he said.

The Palmer District Attorney's office will file a petition for review with the Court of Appeals in Anchorage seeking to have Smith's ruling overturned.

Meanwhile, Nelson made bail Friday and is out of custody pending the appeals court's decision. Smith lowered Nelson's bail from the original $30,000 to $10,000 on Friday and approved Liberty Samples-Niesen as third-party custodian, despite objections from Assistant District Attorney Paul Roetman.

Roetman said Samples-Niesen was a "weak" candidate for custodian, and asked that bail remain high if she were approved. Roetman cited a "lack of cooperation" from Niesen's husband, Lawrence, during probation officers' visit to the home on an unrelated issue. Lawrence Niesen is Nelson's primary third-party custodian and Liberty Samples-Niesen will take that role when her husband is at work.

In denying Roetman's request, Smith said the state has virtually no case against Nelson unless the appeals court rules in the state's favor.

"Mr. Nelson is being held by the thinnest of reeds," Smith said.

The defendant's sister-in-law and a friend sat in the courtroom during the bail hearing. They chuckled audibly several times, eventually drawing a sharp rebuke from the judge. He told them in an angry voice that meth labs are so dangerous that police must get special training and wear elaborate protective gear to dismantle them.

"This is serious business," Smith said. "It's not funny at all. Meth labs kill people."