A three-judge state Superior Court panel has upheld the conviction of a Pottsville man convicted of possessing methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in August 2014 at his father’s house in East Norwegian Township.
Schuylkill County probation and parole officers had the right to search the house, which belonged to Bradley J. Haslam Jr.’s father, as a condition of the father’s parole, President Judge Correale F. Stevens wrote in a 13-page opinion filed Monday.
Furthermore, the evidence did not support the younger Haslam’s assertion that he and his girlfriend rented the room in which drugs and paraphernalia were found and, therefore, their consent was required for any search. “His argument is not supported by the factual findings,” Stevens wrote.
As a result, Haslam will continue to serve his state prison sentence of 18 to 36 months, which county Judge James P. Goodman imposed on Jan. 27 after revoking the defendant’s probation.
In a nonjury trial, Goodman found Haslam guilty on Sept. 18, 2015, of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Goodman promptly placed Haslam on probation for 23 months, and also sentenced him to pay costs, $100 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $491 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem, and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.
State police at Reading charged Haslam with possessing the drugs and paraphernalia, including baggies and a digital scale, about 9:45 a.m. Aug. 12, 2014.
Haslam alleged the search of the room was unlawful because he did not consent to it.
However, Stevens wrote that, in a pre-trial hearing, county Judge John E. Domalakes determined that the defendant’s father owned the house; that neither the defendant nor his girlfriend told the officers they used the room, which resembled a common room, exclusively; that there was no evidence of rent being paid; and that the defendant stayed at the house only occasionally.
“We may not overrule the (lower) court’s credibility determinations,” Stevens wrote.
The panel also rejected Haslam’s claim that he was unlawfully searched, noting that evidence supported the conclusion that he consented to the search and was neither under arrest nor handcuffed.
Judges Alice Beck Dubow and Jacqueline O. Shogan, the other panel members, joined in Stevens’ opinion.