by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency officers are accused of violating a man's Fourth Amendment rights when they raided his Tamuning home two months ago. If that proves to be true, criminal drug charges against a former legislative staffer will likely be dropped.

Attorney Jeffrey Moots has filed a motion to suppress evidence collected in Christopher Carillo's criminal case. Carillo, a former staffer of Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz, was arrested after he was found in possession of more than 500 grams of marijuana. The defense maintains that customs officers violated his client's Fourth Amendment rights and essentially put the cart before the horse when raiding the Tamuning home.

On February 26 Customs and Quarantine drug detection dogs alerted to a package that was addressed to Zaani Branch at a residence on Thomas Street in Tamuning. A day later a federal search warrant was obtained authorizing the officers to open the package to determine its contents. Inside they found marijuana. A tracking device was placed inside the box and on February 28 the package was delivered at 11:16 and left outside the home.

According to the defense, three minutes later law enforcement saw an individual, later identified as Carillo, go outside and take the package inside. Minutes later the tracking device went off and law enforcement broke into the house seizing the package and Carillo.

At 11:30 the entry team confirmed that the house was secured and gave the all-clear. Three hours later the defense argues that a customs officer left the Tamuning home and went to meet with a Superior Court of Guam judge to go over an anticipatory search warrant. And at 3:39 the court signed the search warrant authorizing the customs officers to enter the house.

"The package goes in a few minutes later they bust in put somebody in handcuffs and then three hours later they go to judge and say, 'We'd like permission to go in when that package goes in and they don't tell him why,'" Moots said, adding that Customs officers never told the judge that they had already entered the house before obtaining the search warrant.

"In this case, they seized the package and two days later they deliver it and there's no reason not have gotten a warrant ahead of time. It really makes no sense," the lawyer noted.

"I've not seen a case where they did this. This was not a situation where events overtook the officers. The officers controlled everything; they didn't have to deliver the package they had until after they did the warrant. Why they didn't, who knows? I don't know if somebody forgot. I don't know if they just slipped their mind. If the person who was supposed to do it just didn't do it, I don't know but it doesn't appear that there is any justification of it," he said.

If granted, all of the evidence seized during the bust including scales, packaging material, marijuana and another similar mail package also addressed to Zaani Branch as well as statements Carillo allegedly made to authorities about smoking as much marijuana as he can up to half an ounce a week would all be thrown out. Carillo currently remains on house arrest and is scheduled to appear before the Adult Drug Court for a hearing next month.

Although the package was addressed to Zaani Branch, he told authorities that he has not lived at the Tamuning home for quite some time and was unaware that packages addressed to him were being delivered to his previous address. Branch is currently deployed to Afghanistan. We should add though that his brother Carlo Branch does live in the home. He and Carillo were roommates and at the time were both employed at the vice speaker's office.

However after his arrest, Carillo was fired.

Customs officials did not respond to inquiries for comment regarding the alleged violation.