Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 15, 1995 TAG: 9508150062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Roy G. Ball, a 20-year-old Navy seaman from Utica, Ohio, was arrested June 3 in the parking lot of the Roanoke Civic Center, where 1,100 people had gathered for the all-night dance party.
Ball's lawyer, Jeff Rudd, said his client was sitting in a car where sheriff's deputies had spotted LSD lying on the floorboards. After charging Ball's fellow seaman with possessing the drugs, a sheriff's deputy searched Ball's wallet and found one dose of LSD.
Ball was not under arrest at the time of the search, Rudd said, and he did not give his consent. In most criminal cases, personal searches can be conducted only after police show probable cause, after a lawful arrest, or with the subject's permission.
Regional Drug Prosecutor Dennis Nagel agreed that the search was improper, and the charge was dismissed Monday in Roanoke General District Court at the request of both parties.
Even though he was not convicted, Ball is likely to be discharged from the Navy, Rudd said.
Ball was one of four people arrested on drug charges at the "Evolution," the largest rave to be held so far in the Roanoke Valley.
by CNB