Madison County case could be headed to U.S. Supreme Court

Ken de la Bastide, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
·2 min read

Mar. 29—ANDERSON — A Madison County felony case could be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The petition for the nation's highest court was filed this month by the Washington University School of Law and local attorney Paul Podlejski.

Podlejski represents Michael Johnson who was convicted in 2019 on a Level 5 felony charge of attempting to deal in a look-alike drug.

He was sentenced to four years by Madison Circuit Court Division 1 Judge Angela Warner Sims with three years suspended.

Podlejski filed an appeal with the Indiana Court of Appeals which overturned the conviction, but the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the decision and reinstituted the guilty conviction.

Podlejski said the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the evidence of the pat down search should not have been admitted.

The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to consider the case and overturn the decision of the Indiana Supreme Court.

The legal question is if a pat down search by security officers at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino was legal.

The search of Johnson was to make sure that he didn't have any weapons on him at the time of his questioning.

Agent Zach Wilkinson with Hoosier Park testified that he didn't believe, fear or suspect that Johnson had a weapon at the time of the search.

"If Mr. Johnson had been visiting a casino in Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island or Washington no federal court would have upheld this search in light of the fact that the officer did not actually suspect Mr. Johnson was armed," the request for the U.S. Supreme Court hearing reads.

"As it happened, the state court that analyzed Mr. Johnson's search did not consider whether Agent Wilkinson actually suspected Mr. Johnson to be armed before frisking him," it continues.

The legal question has been ruled on in different ways by several other courts.

"They did reach out for my input," Podlejski said of the request for hearing. "I'm co-counsel in the case.

"The issue is did the pat down search exceed the allowable level of a search," he said. "They never suspected Johnson had a weapon."

For Podlejski it will be his first opportunity to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court if the case is accepted for review.

"I have appeared before the Indiana Supreme Court," he said.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.

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