On August 26, 2015, a Montgomery County Sheriff’s officer pulled over a truck for driving 35 miles per hour in a 20 mile per hour school zone in Magnolia, Texas.
The officer noticed an open can of beer in the console and asked the driver, 40-year-old Chad Tiller, if he could search the truck. Tiller, who had several prior arrests and convictions for drug offenses, refused, saying he was doing so on the advice of his attorney.
A drug-detection dog was brought to the scene and alerted near the driver’s side door. The officer discovered a plastic bag of powder which field-tested positive for cocaine.
Tiller was arrested on a charge of possession of a controlled substance. On January 29, 2016, he pled guilty in Montgomery County Criminal District court to possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
On March 1, 2016, the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab tested the suspected cocaine and no controlled substance was detected.
The lab informed the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office which notified Tiller’s defense attorney. A state law petition for a writ of habeas was filed in April 2016 and supported by the prosecution.
In July 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ and vacated Tiller’s conviction. On September 29, 2016, the prosecution dismissed the charge and Tiller was released.
– Maurice Possley
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