By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — A man sitting in a car in a parking lot did not present enough probable cause for police to commence questioning that led to a drug arrest, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

In a unanimous ruling, the appeals court reversed the Howard County drug convictions of Orlando Dosia, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

On Feb. 23, 2007, Nashville police officer Kyle Jones saw two vehicles in the parking lot of a closed convenience store on Arkansas 278. One of the cars sped away as the officer approached. The other vehicle remained parked and Jones questioned Dosia, the driver.

During questioning, Dosia told the officer he did not have a valid driver’s license and appeared nervous, the officer testified at trial. When Dosia and a passenger were asked to get out of the vehicle, the passenger tried to flee but was apprehended.

In a search of the vehicle, the offer found a bag of marijuana, $1,900 in cash and other drugs. Dosia was charged with felony possession of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine with intent to deliver, and with driving without a license.

At a hearing, Jones admitted there were no signs of criminal activity, no moving violations nor apparently mechanical problems or defective equipment on either vehicle when he stopped to see why the car was in the parking lot.

Howard County Circuit Judge Ted C. Capeheart denied Dosia’s motion to suppress evidence, saying the officers “were doing what they should have been doing in checking things out” but that (Dosia) was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

In its ruling Wednesday, the Court of Appeals said state statutes allow an officer to stop and detain a person who is reasonably suspected of having committed, was committing or was about to commit a felony or misdemeanor involving danger of injury or property damage.

“Those requirements are simply not present here by (the officer’s) candid admission,” Judge John B. Robbins wrote.

Maverick Canada, the passenger, who tried to flee, was convicted on various drug charges and sentenced to sentenced to 16 years in prison.