Federal magistrate says man who allegedly provided deadly heroin to Logan Whiteaker legally arrested

Darius Blakemore
Darius Blakemore
photo Darius Blakemore

Jurors can hear about the semi-automatic pistol and 3 grams of heroin that landed a 27-year-old man in hot water with Chattanooga prosecutors - for now.

A local deputy spotted Darius Blakemore without a seat belt on March 16, 2016, giving him probable cause to conduct a traffic stop, a federal magistrate ruled recently. Because federal court works a little differently, a higher judge still needs to approve the recommendation. But unless U.S. District Judge Harry Mattice reverses course, the decision stands as Blakemore's case moves forward.

Prosecutors say Blakemore provided a deadly heroin mixture to Logan Whiteaker, a 24-year-old man who overdosed 18 hours after he graduated from Hamilton County Drug Court in February 2016. Blakemore's co-defendants, Joshua Corbett and Jessica Rachels, have pleaded guilty to facilitating the fatal deal, records show.

But Blakemore's case hung in the balance after his attorney, Amanda Dunn, asked a judge in an evidence hearing to suppress the evidence officers collected off Blakemore during a traffic stop in March 2016.

Dunn argued law enforcement officers illegally searched Blakemore. They wanted to stop him no matter what, partnering with the Drug Enforcement Adminstration to get the 27-year-old into custody. So when Blakemore got into a black SUV that started traveling along Shallowford Road, standby deputy Larry Posey knew he needed independent probable cause to pull him over, Dunn said.

Posey, however, relied on Shane Dockery, a Red Bank police officer who conducts special investigations for the DEA, she said. Dockery also was tailing the black SUV that day and radioed to Posey that Blakemore wasn't wearing a seat belt. This was important, she said, because Posey managed to spot the unfastened seat belt in four seconds as Blakemore's vehicle turned into a Dollar General parking lot.

Both officers testified during the evidence hearing that magistrate Susan Lee ruled on. But in a Feb. 10 motion disagreeing with the recommendation, Dunn said the court needed to throw out Dockery's testimony that Blakemore wasn't wearing a seat belt.

She said Posey was required to establish probable cause on his own since he made the stop.

"The court," Dunn wrote, "can easily infer that the information officer Dockery provided to deputy Posey about a seat belt violation certainly influenced his belief that he observed a seat belt in the four short seconds that he had eyes on the [vehicle]."

She also pointed out dashcam footage from Posey's vehicle did not show whether Blakemore was wearing a seat belt.

"Ultimately, [this recommendation] seems reflective of a larger trend within the judiciary," Dunn wrote, "which is that a police officer's testimony or memory is unassailable unless there is some absolute direct proof the officer is telling a deliberate lie."

Federal prosecutor Michael Porter countered that judges have the power to assess the credibility of officers. Furthermore, he said, Posey testified he would not stop a vehicle without probable cause and had made hundreds of appropriate stops before.

As far as the dashcam footage, Porter wrote, "Deputy Posey testified that he 'had a better position or vantage point from the driver's seat to view the seat belt during the turn than the camera had.'"

Blakemore, whose Jan. 10 trial was canceled to hear the suppression argument, will continue to wait in custody until a judge picks a new date. It's not uncommon for a motion to delay a trial date.

Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.

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