Drug-sniffing dogs focus in Lil Wayne hearing

The Border Patrol's drug-sniffing dogs became the focus of attorneys Tuesday in a Yuma hearing as they continued to seek dismissal of drug and weapons charges against rapper Lil Wayne.

Attorneys for the rapper, arrested in January 2008 at a Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 8 near Yuma, want information about how the Border Patrol drug detection dogs are trained.

They also are seeking any surveillance video of the dog used at the checkpoint at the time of the arrest.

Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, was arrested at a border checkpoint 78 miles east of Yuma after authorities said they found cocaine, Ecstasy and a handgun on his tour bus.

He has pleaded not guilty to one count each of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of dangerous drugs and weapons misconduct in Yuma County Superior Court.

Lil Wayne was back in Yuma on Tuesday for a hearing as one of his attorneys, Natman Schaye, told the court they had not received the information they had requested about how the drug-detecting dogs the Border Patrol uses are trained.

Judge Mark Wayne Reeves, who is presiding over the case, had previously issued a ruling that the Yuma County Attorney's Office was to obtain the information and turn it over to the defense.

Prosecutor Deann Sandry told the court Tuesday she had just received a seven-page letter from Border Patrol legal counsel saying the agency they do not plan to release the training record of the drug-sniffing dog used in the incident

Reeves asked Sandry to make that letter available to the court by the end of the day so that he could review it to determine what the Border Patrol's basis was for denying the request and to provide a copy of it to the defense.

"Depending on what I read in the letter, I may take action on my own," Reeves said.

Carter's other attorney, James Tilson of Yuma, said afterward that getting the training information on the dogs is important to the case because it goes toward the issue of probable cause.

"The dogs are the reason the bus was stopped," Tilson said. "If the dogs weren't properly trained, then that puts the entire probable cause for the stop into question. We can file a motion to suppress any evidence that resulted from it."

Schaye also told the court in an interview on Monday of the Border Patrol agent who sent Carter's bus to secondary. The agent told defense attorneys that there are surveillance cameras at the checkpoint.

"He told us they have cameras that record everything that goes on," Schaye said. "We have requested the video recordings of the events up to Carter's arrest."

Tilson added that the defense had requested any video from the Border Patrol relating to the incident at the beginning of the case, but was never given anything.

"Now it appears there was some video," Tilson said. "It does nothing but help our case when we find out about new information that hadn't been given to us."

The defense wants the video, Tilson said, to make sure the drug dog properly alerted agents to the bus, because that question relates to whether the dog was properly trained.

"This is a winnable case," Tilson said. "Our goal is to get all the charges dismissed."

Carter seemed in good spirits following the hearing, stopping to sign autographs for about a dozen fans as he left the courthouse.

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James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.