Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short
The seizure of cigarettes and a cigarette lighter from two miners in Lee County violated their constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure, the Virginia Court of Appeals said.
``Even though mining is a closely regulated industry and the government has a strong and legitimate interest in promoting safety in the industry, we hold that the authorities illegally seized the cigarettes and the cigarette lighter,'' the three-judge panel said.
The search followed rumors that miners were smoking at the Big Fist Coal Co. mine. Representatives of the state attorney general; Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy; and the U.S. Mine Safety Health Administration conducted a surprise inspection and found a pack of cigarettes in the shirt pocket of Harold Davis and cigarettes and a lighter in Derrell Burgan's lunch bucket. The two were indicted for violating a ban on smoking materials in an underground coal mine.
Lee County Circuit Judge William C. Fugate refused to admit the evidence taken during the search, and the state appealed.
The appeals court said the law authorizes unannounced and warrantless searches of mines for safety reasons but does not allow searches of the miners themselves.
by CNB