Court: ISP trooper lied about meth case

LIBERTY, Ind. – Criminal charges filed against a Liberty man for allegedly cooking meth were dropped last week because an Indiana State Police trooper allegedly lied to obtain a search warrant for the man’s home.

Derek Kassens, 29, was charged in February 2014 with possession of methamphetamine (a Class B felony). He also was charged with possession of precursors, possession of paraphernalia, maintaining a common nuisance and neglect of a dependent (all Class D felonies).

Kassens was arrested after ISP Trooper Nate Raney received a warrant to search the suspect’s Glade Montgomery Road home. Raney is a member of the state police’s Methamphetamine Suppression Section, whose mission, according to a state police statement, is to proactively investigate methamphetamine crimes.

Last month, Union County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Cox granted a defense motion to suppress the results of the search. Former Deputy Prosecutor Ronald Rychner then filed a motion to dismiss the case, which Cox granted on Jan. 5.

Union County Prosecutor Andrew Bryson, who took office Jan. 1, said his office is reviewing the case and could have a decision as soon as Friday concerning Raney’s actions.

The Indiana State Police did not respond to a request for comment.

In his order granting the motion to suppress the evidence obtained by searching Kassens’ house, Cox wrote that the essential facts alleged in the search warrant application were “simply false, untrue and known by Raney to be untrue.”

“The court finds that Raney intentionally misled the court by claiming that the December (2013) tip (Union County Sheriff’s) Deputy (Shaun) Tudor received specifically named any one individual,” Cox wrote. “Deputy Tudor truthfully testified that the tip he received in December did not mention any specific names and that he told Raney that it did not mention any specific names. The Court finds that Raney’s inclusion in the search warrant affidavit of specific names, when he knew none were provided to Tudor, was a deliberate and intentional misrepresentation to the court and was critical to the finding of probable cause.”

On at least five occasions in a video, Tudor specifically asked the tipster if he had personally observed a meth lab at Kassens’ home and the tipster specifically denied doing so, according to court documents.

“Based upon the foregoing facts and the testimony of the witnesses, the court finds that Raney intentionally misled the court in his affidavit by falsely claiming (a source),” Cox’s order said.

The affidavit Raney presented to the court listed the names of four people who allegedly were cooking meth at Kassens’ home, despite the fact that Tudor did not receive any names from the person who provided the tip.

When officers searched Kassens’ home last year they found meth and many supplies and paraphernalia used to make the drug, according to court documents.

“The fact that Raney knows the statutory requirements for obtaining a search warrant and the law relevant thereto and simply ignored them belies any notion of good faith,” Indianapolis attorney Andrew Maternowski wrote in his memorandum in support of the motion to suppress. “The fact that Raney fabricated significant details to buttress the tip and link it to other information in the affidavit shows his true intent in misrepresenting the truth to the court.”