Description: London, Kentucky criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with possession with the intent to
distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.

From June to August 2021, Rodney Higgins participated in a methamphetamine and fentanyl distribution ring. While officers were investigating Higgins and his co-conspirators, they used a confidential source to conduct two controlled buys of methamphetamine from Higgins.

A search of Higgins’s apartment turned up 370 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine and over 200 grams of a substance that tested positive for fentanyl. The government indicted Higgins for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 846,
841(a)(1).

Higgins moved to suppress the evidence that officers found while they searched his apartment.

Probable cause is “not a high bar” to meet. District of Columbia v. Wesby, 583 U.S. 48, 57 (2018) (citation omitted). It requires only “a ‘fair probability’ that an officer will find contraband or evidence of a crime.” United States v. Whitlow, 134 F.4th 914, 919 (6th Cir. 2025) (citation omitted). Further, there must be a “nexus” between the evidence sought and the place to be searched. United States v. Sanders, 106 F.4th 455, 460–61 (6th Cir. 2024) (en banc). That is, officers must provide “direct or circumstantial support to create ‘more than mere suspicion’ that contraband will be found at the location in question.” Id. at 462 (citation omitted). This warrant met those requirements.

Court denied his motion to suppress.

Outcome: Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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