Lawyers argue man's 4th amendment rights violated

Posted at: 10/29/2009 7:21 PM | Updated at: 10/30/2009 7:42 AM
By: Jeremy Jojola, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com

It was a 911 call full of static that led to the arrest of a man now accused of molesting a young boy and making child pornography.

Joseph Martinez's attorneys say charges against him should be dismissed because Bernalillo County deputies crossed the line over what they call a crossed 911 call.

Either it was a crossed line or a 911 hang-up — nobody knows, but it led deputies to a Tijeras home where investigators say they uncovered child pornography.

Attorneys say that either way, deputies should have never searched the home and the evidence they gathered in that search should be tossed.

A 911 call full of static led deputies to the Tijeras home where Joseph Martinez lived last spring.

Deputies say they entered the home, believing a burglary was in progress after seeing an open door.

Inside, they say they found no burglar — only 300 videos of child pornography and drugs.

Martinez now faces federal charges relating to child porn.

On Thursday, his attorneys argued before the court that deputies violated his 4th Amendment rights to unreasonable search and seizure.

They say the 911 call may have been a crossed line, which was even speculated by the dispatcher that day, and that officers didn't have a good enough reason to go inside.

A judge heard testimony from deputies who responded to the home that day.

They say they had reasonable suspicions to believe a crime was happening because of the 911 call, the open door, and the fact that no one answered them when they announced they were at the home.

Stay with Eyewitness News 4 and KOB.com for the latest on the judge's decision.

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