The Supreme Court of Guam has ruled in favor of the Government, overturning an order by the trial court to suppress evidence in a case against man indicted on drug charges and criminal trespass.
Guam – Joshua Alan Sharp was indicted on four charges, possession of a scheduled two controlled substance with the intent to deliver, promoting major prison contraband, possession of a scheduled two controlled substance and criminal trespass.
The charges stem from the discovery of two women found in what was supposed to be a vacant hotel room. The women identified Sharp as the individual who let them in the room. According to court documents police located Sharp in the parking lot of the hotel, where police recovered a hotel room key on his person.
In the room officers discovered drugs, and drug paraphernalia. During trial, Sharp moved to suppress the evidence found during the said search, that motion was granted by the Superior Court, which cited that an officer must be present at the time the alleged crime was committed to authorize an arrest with no warrant.
According to court documents since there was no officer present at the time Sharp allegedly trespassed, the trial court excluded the evidence from trial.
Today, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling on the following basis, first that the vacant hotel room is a dwelling, therefore criminal trespass into the hotel may constitute a misdemeanor. Secondly, that the language used in the Guam Code Annotated does not require officer presence at the time of the alleged crime.
As a result the Supreme Court has reversed the suppression order and remanded the case back to trial court.
