Ex-BWIA attendant wants ‘coke’ charges thrown out

A FORMER BWIA flight attendant who was arrested at a hotel in Miami on Feburary 14, has filed a motion in the United States District Court to suppress evidence relating to his charges including conspiracy to import five kilos of cocaine into the United States.

Trinidadian Michael Andre Le Blanc, who faces life imprisonment if convicted, has filed the motion in the US District Court — Southern District of Florida. He contends in his motion that the US federal agents never informed him of his rights when he was arrested at the hotel and any evidence collected should be considered the “fruit of a poisonous tree”. The motion to suppress came up for hearing in the US District Court last Friday before Judge Woolbrook. Hearing of the motion was put off to this Friday when Le Blanc will know if he will face a jury in Miami on Monday.

Le Blanc is charged jointly with BWIA flight attendant Frances Dow and Gregory Oral Lakhan on charges of conspiracy to import cocaine into the US during the period February 14 to 17, possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Le Blanc is being held at the federal prison facility in downtown Miami, while Dow was released on bail pending the hearing of the case. Le Blanc’s case will be argued by American attorney Dean Mosley. He is being assisted by former Trinidad Flying Squad officer Mervyn Cordner, now an attorney, Jamaican Wayne Golding, with assistance from Trinidad-based attorney Thomas Cunningham. The US Government is represented by John Delionado, Assistant US Attorney.

According to the information presented in the motion, Le Blanc travelled from Trinidad, arriving in Miami at 12.20 pm on February 14. After clearing Customs, Le Blanc drove to the Holiday Inn located at the corner of 36th Street and 205 Lejune Road to meet a female friend, named Frances Dow. Le Blanc arrived at the hotel about 2.30 pm. As he arrived at the hotel and spoke to Dow, and prior to gaining possession of any luggage or mentioning its contents, Le Blanc claimed he was thrown to the ground and held at gun point. He claimed that the law enforcement agents started to question him about the luggage and its contents. He said his arrest was audio-taped.

Le Blanc’s attorneys submit that their client was arrested without probable cause. “It appears from the statements given by Dow that probable cause to arrest Le Blanc never existed because at no time did Dow ever tell anyone that she knew that she was carrying cocaine. As far as Dow was concerned, she was just carrying an extra piece of luggage for a friend. “In addition, there is no evidence prior to the arrest and take down of Le Blanc, that Le Blanc knew what was in the luggage. “There was nothing criminal about Le Blanc meeting an old girlfriend in a hotel,” the motion stated.

The Trinidadian’s attorneys believe that the law enforcement agents moved too quickly because they had absolutely no probable cause to arrest and detain Le Blanc. The arrest and detention of Le Blanc, they submit, amount to an illegal seizure of his person and the seizure is in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States constitution. Dean Mosley, in his submission, points out that when Le Blanc arrived at the hotel, there was nothing to indicate that he knew what was in the luggage. Furthermore, he states that Le Blanc was never in possession of the luggage. “He was arrested within two minutes of arriving in the hotel where no one had a discussion about drugs or any contraband. “The first discussion about drugs came after Le Blanc was on the floor, face down with a gun pointed to his head by law enforcement.”

Mosley submits that Le Blanc travelled from Trinidad without drugs, arrived in Miami and went to a hotel room and spoke to a friend. Not once, he submits, did anyone discuss any drugs or evidence, reasonable suspicion that he knew drugs were in the luggage. Further, Mosley contends that law enforcement agents never told Le Blanc that he had a right to remain silent and that what he said could be used against him in a court of law. The US attorney said the arrestee should have been given the “miranda warning” so that his rights could have been put in the proper context. In conclusion, Mosley states that the law enforcement agents failed to honour Le Blanc’s fourth and fifth Amendment Rights and therefore all statements should be suppressed and any evidence collected in his case should be considered the “fruit of poisonous tree”.

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