CHEYENNE - Drugs found in a Cheyenne man's trailer should not have been admitted as evidence at his trial because the warrantless search was unconstitutional, the Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled.

The court opinion, released late Friday, reversed the conviction of Jeremy Fenton, who had entered a conditional plea of guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.

The condition preserved his right to appeal a ruling by Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Arnold denying his motion to suppress evidence found and statements made during a search of his home.

The Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice William Hill, said the state failed to prove the search that disclosed the evidence which was the basis for the charge against Benton was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Wyoming Constitution.

Hill's opinion quoted the amendment that protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures and case law �because we wish to make clear that the issue presented in a case such as this is one of the most important known to Anglo-American jurisprudence.�

On February 9, 2005, two Laramie County deputy sheriffs went to Lisa Brown's trailer home to talk to her and Jeremy Fenton about a stolen car.

Brown answered the door and let the deputies into her trailer. Fenton also was at the residence.

One of the deputies saw in plain view sitting on top of stereo speakers in the living room a small plastic baggie containing marijuana and marijuana residue on a piece of paper.

The other deputy found a paper that had burnt and unburnt marijuana laying on a shelf of the coffee table in the living room.

They collected the paper and baggie as evidence and then searched the rest of the trailer. They found a small locked security box in another part of the house. A third deputy who came to help found the key to the box on a key chain belonging to Brown and Fenton.

Inside the box was Fenton's wallet, Social Security card, more than $1,000 in cash, a quantity of methamphetamine, a glass pipe, small scale and baggies.

Fenton said the cash was rent money and the other items did not belong to him.

The state claimed the search was reasonable because Fenton was on probation for a previous methamphetamine conviction.

But the Supreme Court said the deputies didn't know that and Fenton's probation had nothing to do with the warrantless search.

Fenton did not challenge the admission of the marijuana as evidence, only the items in the locked box.

During oral arguments, the state conceded that Fenton and Brown had objected to the further search of their home, the opinion said.

Capital reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at joan.barron@casperstartribune.net