Holyoke drugs and gun

State police say after stopping an SUV, they found a Llama Minimax II .45 caliber 1911 style handgun, a stun gun, 368 bags of powder believed to be heroin, approximately 102 grams of cocaine, a bag with Percocet pills and an unspecified amount of marijuana. A Hampden Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed the evidence, ruling the stop and search was illegal.

(MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE)

SPRINGFIELD — A Hampden Superior Court judge's ruling has thrown out all the evidence in a drug and gun arrest of Holyoke resident Juan Pacheco by Massachusetts State Police.

Judge Edward J. McDonough Jr. wrote in the case of Pacheco, "because the officers' discovery of the drugs, loaded firearm, cash and other contraband in the vehicle occurred during a search that resulted from the pretextual stop and the unlawful interrogation and seizure of defendant, this evidence must be suppressed."

The evidence included a .45 caliber gun and ammunition, 368 bags of suspected heroin, and approximately 102 grams of cocaine.

There will be a status conference on the case against Pacheco, 29, of Holyoke, who is represented by Nikolas Andreopoulos, on Dec. 17.

At that time, the prosecution will report whether it will appeal McDonough's decision or not. If there is no appeal, the case will be dismissed.

Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder on Thursday allowed Pacheco's request to have the $5,000 cash bail he had posted returned, and he is now released on his own recognizance.

The charges against Pacheco are trafficking cocaine, possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, violation of a drug free school zone, carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm, having a firearm during a felony and having an electric stun gun.

Pacheco's address as listed in court records is 23 Hamilton St. in Holyoke.

At the time of Pacheco's arrest on Feb. 21, State Police sent out a press release about it including a photo of the evidence seized.

McDonough made the ruling Wednesday after previously hearing evidence on the motion to suppress. In the 20-page ruling, McDonough reviewed evidence from the hearing. The following material is from the judge's ruling:

State Trooper Felipe Martinez pulled over a white GMC Yukon SUV for traffic violations – unlit license plate lights and excessively tinted windows.

Martinez had been on patrol in an unmarked cruiser on Hamilton Street in Holyoke as part of the Community Action Team working with Holyoke police to "saturate high crime areas."

Martinez said the license plate was a "Choose Life" special series plate, and that caught his attention "because he had learned that drivers engaged in criminal activity would use special series plates to project 'a veil of innocence.' "

After running the plate he learned the Yukon belonged to Pacheco, who he knew.

When he pulled the vehicle over a crowd was gathering, and Martinez radioed for backup.

When Martinez went to the front of the Yukon, he noticed a strong odor of air freshener and saw a number of air fresheners throughout the car.

That heightened his suspicion "because it was his experience that drug dealers use the air fresheners in order to mask the smell of illegal drugs from officers and police dogs performing a sniff search."

Martinez had called Holyoke officer Martin Welch on his cell phone because he had worked with Welch, a canine officer.

A test of the windows by Martinez with a light meter showed a reading of 15% – below the 35% mandated by law.

Martinez said he asked if there were any drugs or guns in the car, and Pacheco said, "No, never, you can check."

Martinez said he wanted to check the vehicle, and had Pacheco get out of the car.

Welch walked his dog, Ryker, around the Yukon, and the dog alerted at a gap at the driver side door.

Based on the results of the drug sniff, officers searched the car for drugs. There they located the drugs, gun and stun gun. Once the gun was found, Pacheco was placed in handcuffs and arrested.

The defense's private investigator, Louis Gordon, inspected the Yukon six days after it was impounded and found the rear license plate lights to be working, which he photographed. He removed the bulbs and the filaments were intact. He saw the bulbs were not new as they had a blackish color.

Gordon testified he was a forensic investigator and didn't have scientific or automotive credentials.

"Nevertheless, at a minimum, Gordon's credible testimony that both plate lights were working perfectly well just days after the stop detracts considerably from the reliability of Trooper Martinez's testimony on the evening of February 21st. I am not convinced by a preponderance of the evidence that the license plate lights were not working or that Martinez's belief to that effect was reasonably based," McDonough wrote.

McDonough wrote he also remained "unconvinced that Martinez was able to fairly determine that defendant was operating a vehicle with excessively dark tinted windows."

The judge said even though the suspicion was confirmed, he questioned Martinez's ability to perceive excessive tint on a dark night while in a moving vehicle.

Judge's decision in Juan Pacheco case