State court: Nervousness not probable cause
By Michelle Starr
Staff writer
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that a
hunch based on nervousness alone is not proba
ble cause for state patrol officers to search a vehi
cle.
The decision stated that state patrol officers
did not have enough probable cause to search
and seize 229 pounds of marijuana from
Christopher Anderson’s car during a traffic stop
on Aug. 27,1997.
The court opinion said: “The fact that the
hunch proved to be correct does not legitimize
the seizure and subsequent search.”
A state patrol officer pulled Anderson over
on Interstate 80 near Grand Island for not having
front and rear license plates, which is against
state law in Ohio, where the car was licensed.
State Patrol Trooper Christopher M. Kolb
testified that he could see Anderson’s artery pul
sate through the skin on his neck and that his
hands were shaky, the opinion said.
I-7-1-1
\ • • ... .
Kolb said Anderson hesitated when asked
where he was coming from, and he passed
through his documents at least once before find
ing tiie car’s registration.
Anderson’s license was valid, and he had no
criminal history.
Kolb handed Anderson a violation card for
not having both license plates but could still see
the artery on Anderson’s neck pulsating and his
shaky hands.
According to the opinion, Kolb said it was
unusual for Anderson to continue to be nervous
because a violation card has no penalty; it only
requires the owner to correct the defect.
Kolb then told Anderson that he was not
under arrest or in custody.
The court said in the opinion that “at this
point, the purpose of the initial traffic stop was
complete” and that Anderson should have been
free to go.
“A reasonable investigation of a traffic stop
may include asking for a driver’s license and reg
istration, requesting a driver to sit in the patrol
car and asking the driver about his or her destina
7-5-*-1
tion and purpose,” the court said.
Kolb then asked if Anderson had any illegal
firearms or drugs with him. Anderson said no,
but Kolb said Anderson would not look at him.
After Anderson denied Kolb permission to
search the vehicle, Kolb said Anderson remained
nervous.
Because of the conversation, Kolb called
State Patrol Trooper Greg Goltz with a canine
unit, which alerted the officer to the trunk of the
car.
Goltz asked Anderson if he was responsible
for everything in die car, and Anderson said yes,
according to the opinion.
Inside the trunk were four duffel bags with
large bundles of marijuana, totaling 229 pounds.
“Based on the evidence in this record, we
determine Kolb did not have reasonable suspi
cion of criminal activity to justify detaining
Anderson after the traffic stop was complete,”
the court said.
But Sgt. Beth Hagemeyer of the state patrol
said using that suspicion seemed to work if the
marijuana was found.
U It’s an investigative
tool. You can’t just
disregard a tool that s
working.”
Sgt Beth Hagemeyer
Nebraska State Patrol
“I don’t think that it’s going to change any
thing that the officers do. It’s an investigative
tool,” Hagemeyer said. “You can’t just disregard
a tool that’s working.”
Hagemeyer disagreed with the court and she
said sometimes the court seems to try to handi
cap law enforcement.
“What do they have to do, pull Us over and
signal to us that they have drugs in their cars?”
Hagemeyer said.
Anderson’s sentence was vacated, and he will
be retried.
Police: Lincoln man arrested
for hitting officer during fight
An early morning fight at an
Amigos restaurant ended with an
assault on an officer Friday.
Off-duty Deputy Chad Baehr, 28,
tried to control a fight at 1:30 a.m.
Friday involving about eight men
outside the restaurant at 14th and Q
streets.
Police arrested Lawrance
McIntosh, 19, 3333 Portia St. Apt.
2B, in the assault, Lincoln Police Ofc.
Katherine Finnell said.
Finnell said McIntosh struggled
with Baehr when he was being taken
into custody, swung and hit the offi
cer in the chin and pushed the officer
onto the hood of a car.
Baehr fell backwards onto the
ground, Finnell said.
McIntosh was arrested for felony
assault on a police officer.
Lincoln Police responded to the
call.
Compiled by staff writer
Michelle Starr
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Businesses hit by counterfeit bills i
By Michelle Starr
Staff writer
Counterfeit money has hit the
streets of Lincoln, hurting businesses
and consumers.
Three incidents of counterfeit
money transactions reported on
Thursday appear to be related,
Lincoln Police Ofc. Katherine Finnell
said.
“I think they should catch the
numskull that did this,” said Cyndie
Kohlman, off-sale supervisor at J
Ryans. “They are hurting business
__ ”
es.
The first call came in at 6 p.m.
from J Ryans, a bar and off-Sale at
1434 N. 27th St.
An employee reported a black
man about 5-foot-7-inches tall and
130 pounds purchasing a half-pint of
brandy with a counterfeit $20 bill.
Jodi Eastin, the J Ryans employee
who took the bill, said she didn’t real
ize the bill was fake at first.
She had a rush of customers and
just put it into the drawer. When she
looked at it later, she noticed it felt
very smooth like a piece of typing
paper, and it didn’t have a magnetic
strip or a watermark.
Kohlman said employees are
instructed on what to look for, and
when other businesses report coun
terfeit bills, the store is put on alert to
re-enforce the need to check bills.
The second report, at about 6:58
p.m., came in from T’s Stop & Shop
at 1307 N. 27th St. A man fitting the
same description given by the J
Ryans employee purchased some
thing from the store using a counter
feit bill.
The third report came in about 20
minutes later from the McDonald’s at
547 N. 48th St.
A female attempted to pay for her
meal using a $50 bill that was coun
terfeit, but the customer said she did
not know that it was counterfeit.
She told police she had made
change for someone who fit the
description of the man the others
described, and he gave her the fake
bill.
The woman was not charged with
anything, and police did not believe
she knew about the counterfeit bill,
Finnell said.
Ray Roberts, a manager at
McDonald’s, said his employees are
instructed to have a manager check
any bill larger than $20.
McDonald’s posts signs detailing
what to look for on bills, and man
agers are also trained to look for sus
picious bills, he said.
Subtle clues on bills can help peo
ple protect themselves.
Consumers should be aware of
how a normal bill feels and make sure
there is a magnetic strip along the
side, Finnell said.
She also said most counterfeit
bills are made from inkjet printers
and color copiers, and though they
provide good quality, there is a subtle
difference between counterfeit bills
and real money. If the ink rubs off,
that’s a good clue it’s not real.
Eastin said she thought it would
be a good idea for the city or county
to offer an optional class to instruct
people what to look for in counterfeit
bills.
“A lot of cashiers don’t know
what to look for,” she said.
Kohlman said, “If they are too
broke and need to make counterfeit
money, something’s wrong with this
picture.”
Report criticizes special education programs
w/A.onii'svj iun ) — many
children with disabilities are getting
substandard schooling because states
are not complying with federal rules on
special education, an independent
agency reports..
U.S. officials are not forcing com
pliance, and as a result, parents often
must sue to enforce the law, according
to a review of more than two decades of
enforcement of the federal special
education law.
In too many cases, children with
disabilities are taught in separate class
rooms and schools are not following
other regulations meant to protect these
students from discrimination, the
National Council on Disability said in a
report to be released Tuesday. The
Associated Press obtained an advance
copy.
l ne problems have persisted tor
years in many locations, said the coun
cil, which makes recommendations to
the president and Congress.
“Federal efforts to enforce the law
over several administrations have been
inconsistent, ineffective and lacking
any real teeth,” the report said.
Officials at the Department of
Education, the federal agency responsi
ble for overseeing compliance with the
1975 Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, said it has increased
monitoring under the Clinton adminis
tration.
“We concur that the responsibility
of enforcement of this law should not
be borne on the backs of parents,” said
Judith Heumann, assistant secretary of
the office of special education and
rehabilitative service.
“Some states are not where we want
U We concur that the responsibility oj
enforcement of this law should not be
borne on the backs of parents.”
Judith Heumann
assistant secretary of the office of special education and rehabilitative service
them to be and are not implementing
the laws as they need to,” Heumann
said. “We’ve been spending significant
time increasing our monitoring, techni
cal assistance and enforcement.”
Nearly 6 million American children
receive special-education instruction
and services at a cost of almost $40 bil
lion, about $5.7 billion of which is fed
eral money.
covering 1994 through 1998:
■ 36 states failed to ensure that
children with disabilities are not segre
gated from regular classrooms.
■ 44 states failed to follow rules
requiring schools to help students find
jobs or continue their educations.
■ 45 states failed to ensure that
local school authorities adhered to
nondiscrimination laws.
Ihe special education law was
meant to end discrimination against
children with disabilities. Many of
these children had been excluded from
public schools, institutionalized or
placed in programs that provided little
or no learning. The law was strength
ened in 1997.
Under the law, local education
authorities that receive federal money
answer to state agencies, which in turn
answer to the federal Education
Department. The department’s moni
toring division has 35 employees and a
budget of about $2.7 million.
In its report, the disabilities council
said Education Secretary Richard Riley
has been more aggressive in seeking to
improve monitoring and enforcement
than the combined efforts of all his pre
decessors. But the group said serious
problems persist.
According to compliance reports
me report said tne most recent
Department of Education monitoring
surveys for the 50 states showed:
■ Only Arkansas, Hawaii, Nevada
and Oklahoma were ensuring that local
school authorities adhered to nondis
crimination laws, compared to 45 who
were not. No information for
Mississippi was given in this category.
■ Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas,
Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Hampshire, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South
Dakota and Vermont were ensuring that
disabled children were not segregated
from regular classrooms. The rest of
states were not.
■ Georgia, Nebraska, North
Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina
and Wyoming were the only states fol
lowing rules requiring schools to help
students find jobs or continue their edu
cations.
i