Legal Commentary

Paris Hilton Charged With Coke Possession, Arrest Report Released

By Jeralyn

Paris Hilton has been charged with possession of cocaine. The complaint and police report are here. The Las Vegas Review Journal recounts events.

The prior statements of police to the media are detailed here. The official report contains yet another version of how the police found cocaine inside her purse. [More...]

In this sworn version, the officer states Paris asked to go to the bathroom and get away from the crowds, so he took her into the Wynn Hotel. They were directed to a security holding room and were waiting for a female officer to arrive and escort her to the ladies room.

"Hilton needed to put some lip balm on, and I handed her the purse from the table. As she began to open it, I saw a small bindle of what I believed to be cocaine in a clear baggy begin to fall from the purse and into my hand," according to the arrest report written Lt. D. Flynn.

A few thoughts on the police report: There's no question she was in custody when the cocaine was found as she was not free to go to the ladies room on her own. Why was the police officer's hand still close enough to catch a falling bindle when she opened the purse? Sounds suspicious. And once he closed the purse and put it back on the table, why didn't he get a warrant before re-opening it when another officer arrived? Had he done so, the search might be legal. I don't see any exception to the warrant requirement holding up here. And if the search is bad, her arrest following the search is bad, and her ensuing statements, whether Mirandized or not, should be excluded.

According to the officer, Paris said the purse and the cocaine weren't her's, but she acknowledged the the money, credit cards and rolling papers inside the purse did belong to her. There was also a broken pill that belonged to her and for which she had a prescription -- it's a pill that aids breathing.

The cocaine weighed less than one gram.

Also questionable: The traffic stop. The officer says he pulled up along the passenger side of the vehicle and the window was open. He smelled pot and saw the female passenger move to close it. He told the vehicle to pull over and contacted the driver, at which time he says he immediately recognized the woman was Paris. So he's saying he didn't recognize her when he was right outside her open window and made the decision to have the car pull over?

The stop did not happen in an instant. Paris was in the car while police removed her boyfriend, Cy Waits, and gave him a sobriety test, which they say he failed. The officer says he then directed Paris to exit the vehicle, which is when she told him of her concerns about the growing crowds and need to use the ladies room. At that point, the officer says she might be a suspect if drugs were found in the vehicle search, but he's not stating he had probable cause to arrest her at that point. He even says he merely "didn't feel comfortable" releasing the car to her.

Paris should win this one. And if not, she's not looking at a prison sentence. See my earlier post with the statutes. (Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 193.130 and related ones.) Cocaine possession is a Class E felony but unless a stated exception applies, probation is mandated, and none of the exceptions apply. (Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 176A.100.)

According to E! Online, Cy Waits has been fired by the Wynn over the incident.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 30, 2010 (boomark / email).