Marshall Grimes

The defense lawyer for an Ohio man accused of drug trafficking in Butler County argued Friday that authorities violated his client's constitutional rights by searching the man's room in 2018.

Marshall A. Grimes, 39, of Columbus faces 17 charges of felony drug trafficking. State and county narcotics officers allege he is the purported ringleader of a distribution operation. He is being held in the jail in lieu of $750,000 bail after he was arrested Dec. 11, 2018, in Butler. City police at the time received a report of a man who had pulled a gun on his girlfriend.

Police responded to the call as a domestic incident, but members of the Butler County Task Force tagged along because Grimes was a person of interest to them. When police arrived, they searched the apartment where Grimes was staying, allegedly uncovering a stolen gun, a shopping bag with cocaine and crack cocaine. The estimated street value of the seized drugs was about $10,000.

On Friday, Grimes' lawyer, Dennis Marion, argued in front of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCune that police had no right to go into his client's room, especially since the reason for their presence was a domestic incident. Marion said the evidence was obtained illegally and should, therefore, not be allowed to be used against Grimes. Marion called Grimes to the stand.

Grimes testified the apartment belonged to a woman who was a close friend, and that he was helping her to pay the bills.

“Whatever she asked for, I gave her,” Grimes said.

Detective John Johnson, assistant coordinator of the Butler County Drug Task Force, testified Friday it appeared nobody was living in the room when officers came to the apartment. Grimes, however, testified he was living in the room at the time of his arrest and was paying rent to the woman.

Moreover, he said he hadn't given the woman permission to enter his room, nor did she have permission to allow police to enter.

Johnson testified they received written consent from the woman to search the apartment, making Grimes' room fair game.

Assistant District Attorney Terri Schultz, who is prosecuting the case, questioned where Grimes got the money to give to the woman, and asked Grimes if he was working at the time of his arrest. He said he wasn't working and was on disability at the time, but had a substantial amount of money. Grimes didn't elaborate on how he obtained the money.

Charges against Grimes stem from an investigation started in May 2018 into the sale of crack cocaine and other drugs at two apartments in the same building on South Main Street in Butler, according to authorities. One of the apartments belonged to the woman who gave written consent for police to search it.

The state Office of the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics and the Butler County Drug Task Force conducted the investigation targeting Grimes and four other defendants, all of whom remain in jail on six-figure bails.

An affidavit filed by Douglas Brink, a state narcotics agent, and Johnson said investigators identified Grimes' “cocaine distribution organization.”

Investigators conducted at least seven controlled drug buys using a police informant between June and November 2018 among the different defendants, according to charging documents.

At the end of Friday's hearing, McCune gave both sides 30 days to file any more arguments in support of their case before he makes a decision.