Judgment is withheld in drug case

SANDPOINT — A former Bonner County woman’s protracted odyssey through the courts is coming to an end.

Doris Nepa Hays was arrested on charges of possession of methamphetamine and marijuana during a traffic stop in Ponderay in 2012.

Hays’ defense counsel moved to suppress evidence in the case, arguing that it was gained in violation of her constitutional rights.

First District Judge Barbara Buchanan agreed, finding that Hays Miranda rights were violated. Buchanan ruled that a lawful eight-minute traffic stop unlawfully stretched into a lengthy interrogation in which Hays made incriminating statements without first being advised of her rights.

Hays, according to court documents, admitted possessing marijuana, which led to a search that turned up meth.

But the Idaho Court of Appeals overturned Buchanan’s ruling. The appellate court ruled that a Ponderay Police officer was still filling out a traffic citation when Hays voluntarily turned over pot to a sheriff’s deputy who arrived on the scene with a drug-detecting K-9.

The appeals court further held that Hays had not yet been arrested when she made incriminating remarks and that her confession was not the product of police coercion.

The case was remanded back to 1st District Court for further proceedings, which led to a plea agreement in the case, court records show.

Hays, 42, entered an Alford plea to an amended charge of attempted possession of meth. Under the plea, Hays admits no wrongdoing but concedes she could have been convicted if the case was put before a jury.

The state recommended no additional jail time and did not oppose a withheld judgment in the case, court records show. Under a withheld judgment, a conviction can dismissed upon completion of court-ordered obligation.

Buchanan sentenced Hays on Friday. She placed Hays on probation for a year and granted the withheld judgment, court records show.