Former Atlanta Hawks forward Mike Scott was cleared of felony drug possession charges after a Banks County, Ga. judge ruled that Scott was possibly the victim of racial profiling.
Scott and his brother Antonn were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and MDMA following a traffic stop in July 2015. The Scotts alleged they were racially profiled and filed a motion to have the evidence against them suppressed on grounds that there was no probable cause to arrest them.
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On Tuesday, following questioning of the arresting officer, Judge Currie Mingledorf II granted the brothers’ motion, holding that the department’s procedures triggered “the exclusionary rule under the Equal Protection Clause.” In an eight-page ruling obtained by The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Mingledorf wrote that there was no proof of the “sufficient articulable suspicion” required to stop Scott’s vehicle and there was no probable cause to arrest them. As a result, Mingledorf held that “the search of the vehicle was not proper.”
The dropped charges may pave the way for an NBA return for the 28-year-old Scott, who was waived in February following a trade to the Suns. Per Wojnarowski, “the looming criminal case became an obstacle for NBA teams that considered signing Scott.”
[The Vertical]
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