JUDGE THROWS OUT CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST MAN CHARGED WITH CAUSING STATE TROOPER OVEDOSE

A judge has thrown out the criminal case against a man charged with causing the overdose of a state trooper during a drug raid in Delmont.  The Trib reports that Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears said there was not enough evidence to support charges filed against 27-year-old Robert Whitley, Jr.after a drug bust in a Delmont-area parking lot.  Prosecutors had claimed a trooper involved in the arrest overdosed after being exposed to fentanyl found inside Whitley’s vehicle.  Mears ruled police lacked probable cause to stop and search the vehicle.  As a result, the judge barred evidence and testimony regarding the 40 bricks of suspected heroin or fentanyl and 5.5 ounces of suspected cocaine investigators claimed to have found in a bag on the vehicle’s floor.