Appeals court overturns Iraq veteran's drug conviction.

Byline: Kevin Featherly

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has overturned an Iraq War veteran's drug conviction, ruling that a lower court erred when it allowed evidence obtained without reasonable suspicion to be used at trial.

Lysa Kaye Conner, 39, of Motley, Minnesota, fought the case pro se and won a reversal Monday in a unanimous Court of Appeals decision. Judge Francis J. Connolly wrote the unpublished, five-page opinion.

"I'm still kind of in shock," Conner said by phone Monday. "I'm kind of numb. It's been over three years since the traffic stop happened and a lot has been taken from me since then. I've dealt with a lot."

Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan said Monday that his office is unlikely to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court. "I don't think they'd take it anyway, just based on the issues," he said.

According to Connolly's ruling, a deputy pulled Conner over in May 2017 after noticing that her windows were darkly tinted. When the deputy approached her vehicle, Conner gave him her driver's license and a letter from a physician, which indicated that she needed dark windows because of a medical condition.

When the deputy asked for proof of insurance, she gave him an expired card. While she looked for her current card, the deputy walked back to his squad car.

There the deputy confirmed that Conner's vehicle was insured, but he also learned that the car she was driving was stopped in March 2016 with "a person known to the deputy to be a drug user" behind the wheel. That driver was not Conner and, according to the Court of Appeals ruling, the 2016 stop was "apparently unproductive."

The deputy walked back to Conner's car and told her she would not be cited for the darkened window, the opinion says. But he then asked if he could continue questioning her. Conner agreed.

Based on the conversation that followed, Connolly writes, the deputy decided to bring in a drug-sniffing dog. In a search, 59.5 grams of methamphetamine, 5.5 grams of marijuana and $390 in cash were found.

Conner was charged in Crow Wing County District Court with first-degree drug possession. She moved to suppress the evidence, arguing the deputy lacked reasonable suspicion to expand his initial traffic stop's scope. That motion was denied.

Following a stipulated-facts trial, Conner was convicted of a felony. Crow Wing County District Court Judge Erik J. Askegaard sentenced her to 65 months in prison, but departed downward and placed her on supervised probation...