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When asked by a prosecutor if he believed Terrell Tucker had drugs with the intention of distributing them, officer Patrick Egan — the sole testifying witness — replied "in the affirmative" and described what he saw.
Egan, the 10-year JCPD veteran, said that he saw Tucker engage in "suspected narcotics activity" near 96 Grand Ave. around 5:15 p.m. on Oct. 28, 2020. Specifically, officers saw Tucker converse with and then direct individuals to head west on Grant Avenue, at which point Tucker would enter an alleyway between 96 and 98 Grant Avenue and emerge soon after to rejoin the individuals and exchange an item for currency.
Ultimately, the officers stopped Tucker near the alleyway and detected "a strong odor of marijuana emanating from his person." A search of Tucker turned up 23 bags of marijuana and $65 worth of suspected drug sale proceeds, Egan said.
A search of the alleyway, where Tucker was the only person seen entering and exiting during the relevant time frame, revealed a drug stash consisting of "19 Ziploc baggies of [suspected] crack cocaine," "[100] folds of [suspected] heroin stamped 'Dope Dick,'" and "37 folds of [suspected] heroin stamped 'Bang,'" Egan said.
Laboratory testing confirmed that the items recovered from the scene contained marijuana, cocaine, a mix of heroin and fentanyl, and pure fentanyl. Egan testified that the alleged drug sales occurred within 1,000 feet of a public school and 500 feet of a public library.
During a hearing, Tucker told a prosecutor:
"Our observations, the packaging of all the narcotics and just the entire incident; how they would be approached, how they would engage somebody in conversation and then there would be an exchange of currency, and then the recovery of the drugs themselves."
The court subsequently ruled that Tucker's distribution charges would be tossed since Egan's testimony was in violation of State v. Cain, which prohibits expert state-of-mind testimony in drug cases.
"In a subsequent motion to dismiss the indictment, citing State v. Cain... defendant argued that Egan's testimony improperly interfered with the grand jury's decision-making function," the court papers read.
Judges Robert Gilson, Gooden Brown and Katie Gummer said: "...we reverse the judge’s decision denying defendant’s motion to dismiss counts three, four, five, six, nine and ten of the indictment, all of which required an intent to distribute as an element of the charged offense."
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