John Orem
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. – Berkeley County assistant prosecutors have moved for the misdemeanor charge against Berkeley County Sheriff candidate John Orem to be dropped.
The motion states the evidence gathered from a warrantless search of Orem’s residence in August was not lawfully obtained and without the evidence permitted, “the State could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Orem was charged with misdemeanor possession of heroin after an Aug. 2 health scare in which he was administered Narcan, the opioid reversal drug.
A state trooper had accompanied EMS on the call to the Orem’s Inwood residence where he was found unconscious before being given the dose of Narcan.
The trooper discovered a spoon, which later tested positive for Fentanyl, inside a cabinet door in the bathroom where Orem was found.
The opening of the cabinet was found to not be within one of the known exceptions to the warrant requirement, the court document says.
According to court documents, the “State concedes that Trooper Gillmore’s opening of the bathroom cabinet is a search” and “Trooper Gillmore did not obtain a search warrant to search the bathroom or the cabinet in the bathroom.”
Trooper Gillmore did not obtain consent to search the bathroom from Orem or his wife, the motion says.
The motion filed by Berkeley County assistant prosecutors Gregory K. Jones and Stephanie Taylor moved to dismiss the charges after finding the search did not fall into the two exceptions to the warrant requirement; the “community caretaker doctrine” or the “emergency doctrine.”
“[T]here was no need for Cpl. Gillmore to promptly act and search the bathroom cabinet in the proper discharge of his community caretaker duties. Further, the search of the bathroom cabinet also fails under the emergency doctrine as there was no longer ‘an immediate need’ for the search of the bathroom cabinet for the ‘protection of human life’ after Mr. Orem arose and walked down the hallway,” the motion says.
Based on this information, the evidence obtained will be suppressed and without the evidence, the State has insufficient evidence to proceed forward and prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, according to the motion.
“Accordingly, the State hereby moves to dismiss the case,” the document says.
Staff writer Matt Dellinger can be reached at 304-263-3381, ext. 128, or www.twitter.com/MattDellJN.
