A federal judge refused Tuesday to suppress evidence seized in a pre-dawn raid at a Cabot home Nov. 22, 2013, in which resident Mark Lyle Dodson fired a shotgun at Jacksonville police officers who broke down his front door, wounding three of them.
Dodson, 54, is scheduled to be tried by a federal jury May 18 on charges of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and three counts each of assaulting a government agent with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Both Dodson and Mary Olszak, 53, were indicted on federal charges less than a month after the raid, accused of running a midsized methamphetamine operation out of their home at 2327 Backbone Road for several months. Olszak pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to a charge of distributing methamphetamine and is awaiting sentencing.
Dodson initially claimed an insanity defense, but on April 14 -- four months after the court received a sealed report on his mental evaluation -- he withdrew that defense and notified the court he intends to rely, at least in part, on self-defense. Defense attorney Hubert Alexander of Jacksonville said in the written notice that the change in strategy places the burden on the government "to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he did not act in self-defense."
Alexander also filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes to suppress all evidence obtained during the execution of the Drug Enforcement Administration search warrant, which was carried out with the assistance of the Jacksonville Police Department's Special Response Team.
In a hearing Tuesday, Alexander argued that the raid was illegal because, although a federal magistrate judge had authorized a "no-knock daytime search warrant," the officers executed the warrant at 6:20 a.m., while it was still dark outside.
"Without announcing their presence and waiting for anyone to come to the door, the officers broke down the front door, utilized flash-bang devices and entered the premises, at which time [Dodson] used force against the unknown intruders," the motion said.
After hearing testimony from Lt. Brett Hibbs, the team's commander, and arguments from Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Morgan, Holmes said the search wasn't illegal because the warrant specified that daytime hours are between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. He also said the use of flash-bang devices is appropriate when officers are executing a warrant and might be in danger.
Hibbs testified that officers sought a no-knock warrant because they were told that methamphetamine was believed to be inside the house, and they didn't want to give the residents time to destroy it before answering the door. He said flash-bang devices were used because narcotics officers said the residents kept a gun behind the front door, and that, "every time they heard a noise outside, they went out and fired blindly into the woods."
Just after officers broke the door down, Dodson -- who was home alone in a bedroom -- met officers with a blast of his .16-gauge shotgun through the bedroom door, according to the Pulaski County sheriff's office, which assisted in the raid.
The blast struck Jacksonville police officer Jerry Keefer in the arm, and Keefer -- along with officers John Alberson and Christopher Schultz -- returned fire, hitting Dodson three or four times in the arms and legs, the sheriff's office said. Keefer was treated at a hospital and released that day, while the other officers had injuries from the gunfire that didn't require treatment.
Dodson was hospitalized, then released into police custody.
According to a federal complaint, the warrant was sought after an undercover informant bought $275 worth of methamphetamine from Olszak at the home Oct. 30, 2013, and was told "it would not be a problem" to obtain a half ounce of "ice" in the near future. Then on Nov. 6, federal agents joined local investigators in arranging another purchase.
Metro on 05/06/2015