An East Bay lawyer charged with possessing methamphetamine and prescription pills when she tried to enter the Sonoma County courthouse claims she is the victim of an illegal search.
Shell Kaminsky, 31, of Brentwood is seeking to suppress evidence obtained during her July 17 arrest on grounds that she was not present when deputies looked in her briefcase.
In court papers, Kaminsky admits grabbing her phone and running after security guards went through her belongings and found nearly a gram of the illegal stimulant. She was arrested minutes later in a nearby parking lot.
But she said the briefcase wasn't in her possession later when deputies retrieved it from the court entrance where she left it. They conducted another search and turned up dextroamphetamine pills.
Because the briefcase was not under her immediate control, a suppression motion filed in her defense claims that anything found in it was taken illegally and cannot be used as evidence against her.
"Ms. Kaminsky asserts the search of her briefcase was without warrant and without other legal means to justify the search," said her lawyer, Jason Tucker, in the motion.
In their legal papers Tuesday, prosecutors argued that Kaminsky's belongings were abandoned by her and that she no longer had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Diana Gomez said rules regarding searches are clearly posted at the entrance to the court. Kaminsky saw them when she submitted her briefcase and wallet for inspection and later fled despite a command from a security guard to stop, Gomez said.
"The subsequent search of the property she abandoned at the station is lawful," Gomez wrote.
Kaminsky is charged with two felonies, possession of methamphetamine and possession of pills without a prescription. She's also charged with failing to subject herself to a search upon entering a courthouse, a misdemeanor.
The later charge makes her ineligible for court-ordered drug treatment programs, Tucker said.
A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 19. The suppression issue will be decided by Judge Robert LaForge.
Any sanctions from the State Bar of California would follow a separate path. A conviction could result in a suspension of her license to practice but would not lead to automatic disbarment.
A Bar spokeswoman didn't return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
Kaminsky, who received her license about a year ago, was representing a client in a multi-defendant assault case when she was arrested.
Prosecutors said she was walking through the north entrance to the courthouse when security guards spotted the clear plastic bag in her belongings.
Kaminsky grabbed her phone and ran. A security guard and two deputies followed her as she walked at a "faster than normal" pace across Ventura Avenue just north of Administration Drive.
She ducked behind some cars and took off her suit jacket before Deputy Michael Whiteside shouted to her, according to court papers.
He recognized her from the courthouse when she turned around. He asked her how she came to have drugs other than the prescription pills and she responded she "could imagine how it got there" but she refused to say anything else, according to court papers.
Whiteside then asked why she was walking away and she said "she didn't want to have to deal with it in front of people," the papers said.
Kaminsky represented one of five defendants accused of assaulting a father and his daughters at a car show last year at Youth Community Park in Santa Rosa. Lawyers for some of the other defendants sought a mistrial on the grounds that Kaminsky's handling of the case biased the jury.
Jurors deadlocked on the most serious charges against her client, former Rohnert Park resident Robert Flett, 27. He was convicted of misdemeanor public fighting and later admitted two counts of misdemeanor battery. He was sentenced to six months in jail.
You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.
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