Della Bruce (age 55) in custody at the Churchill County Jail in appeared in District Court for an evidentiary hearing, with Judge Thomas Stockard presiding.
On April 6, 2021, Nevada Highway Patrol arrested Della Bruce on several drug-related charges, including:
- Trafficking a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance, between 400 and 1,000 grams.
- Possession with Intent to Sell a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance, a 1st offense.
- Possession of a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance over 42 grams.
- Use or Possession of Drug Paraphernalia - four counts.
- Throwing Burning Cigarette.
- Obstruct Driver's Vision Through Glass or Control over Driving Mechanism.
Bruce pled not guilty to the charges in District Court on May 25. Churchill County Public Defender Wright Noel, defense counsel for Bruce, called three witnesses to testify during the evidentiary hearing to verify the events that took place the day of her arrest. Noel argued that K-9 Nick (drug dog) alerts were invalid as marijuana laws have changed in Nevada.
Through the entirety of the evidentiary trial, Noel and Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Sanford extensively questioned all officers involved to determine whether or not any of Bruce’s rights had been violated.
A narcotics detective with the North Central Task Force relayed to the court the events leading up to Bruce's arrest. The detective explained that on April 6, 2021, the court-ordered GPS tracker placed on Della Bruce's vehicle was moving locations. He and another Task Force detective followed Bruce to Fernley, maintaining visual surveillance on Bruce in her jeep.
The detective then advised an NHP Trooper of suspicious behavior that Bruce was exhibiting, including stopping at an apartment for a short period. She then made a stop at a convenience store sitting next to an unknown man and quickly leaving the area while doing "burn runs," which are unexplained driving patterns intended to lose anyone who may be potentially following you. The hope was to have the Trooper find probable cause for a traffic stop and determine if his narcotics trained K9 could locate drugs in the vehicle.
The Task Force determined that Bruce likely possessed narcotics. The detectives were prepared to arrest Bruce for selling methamphetamine to a cooperating source if the traffic stop was not possible.
Upon cross-examination, CCPD Noel questioned the detective about the accuracy of the statement provided by the other Task Force detective and ascertained that it did not include any detailed information about "burn runs" or him relaying information to the NHP Trooper.
A Fallon Police Officer was also called as a witness who was present for the controlled buy against Bruce and also while the GPS tracking device was placed on Bruce’s vehicle, which was known to be used in her potential drug purchase and selling patterns. He confirmed that he had a suspicion of the movements of Bruce's vehicle on the day of her arrest and that she was potentially traveling to the location where she was known to purchase large amounts of methamphetamine. The officer also confirmed that regardless of her traffic violations, the intention was always to arrest Bruce on drug charges on the day in question.
The Trooper assigned to the Northern Nevada Interdiction Task Force and his K-9 partner Nick are trained to and work with, narcotic cases. Nick is trained to indicate on methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and derivatives ranging between residue or pounds. Nick has undergone extensive training and continually trained to ensure that he can alert to the odors for which he is trained.
The troopers testified that he conducted a traffic stop based on Bruce failing to indicate during a lane change, throwing a cigarette out of the window, and had items hanging from the rearview mirror. Bruce then failed to immediately stop when he activated his overhead lights. It took her a short time to pull over safely. He then approached the vehicle on the passenger side vehicle at Churchill County Mile Marker 7. The passenger side window was in the up position, and she seemed to be struggling to lower the window. Bruce's vehicle looked "lived in" containing a lot of clutter and trash along with other debris, which is often indicative of drug users. She took quite a long time to locate her documentation and made a statement that there was nothing in the vehicle, which he found odd.
Bruce's driver's license was not valid, and she was asked to get out of the vehicle upon which she exhibited behavior indicative of hard drug use such as heroin or methamphetamines. Upon asking for permission to search inside the vehicle, Bruce asked to schedule it for another time. As soon as Bruce denied the consent to search, K-9 Nick was deployed. Bruce did advise the Trooper of the potential for marijuana in her vehicle. Nick circled the vehicle, and he indicated upon the vehicle. The Trooper continued a search and found methamphetamine in her purse, scales, and micro baggies between the seats, along with crystal-like substances indicative of methamphetamine. Marijuana pipes were also found in the vehicle.
CCPD Noel argued that due to the broken back window, Bruce would have been unable to see that he had turned on his overhead lights. Also, that "lived-in" in does not mean that she has a residence in the vehicle. It just means it has a lot of stuff or is messy - none of which is illegal. Noel argued that as a trooper, he could potentially arrest anyone without probable cause. The Trooper stated that he would not do such a thing and that he would need to have probable cause to do anything of the sort. Bruce claimed she was traveling to pick up a leaf blower for her job clearing the Walmart parking lots at night, but she wouldn't be going to be working that evening which seemed to be out of the ordinary or suspicious to the Trooper. Noel continued that the use of K-9 Nick was reasonably unfair due to marijuana being legal and not knowing which substance Nick did alert to.
Records show Bruce has an extensive criminal history in Oregon, including controlled substances, forgery, and theft dating back to 1994.
The Court has not made a ruling on the Motion to Suppress that was argued on Tuesday at 11:00 am. It is under submission and will be ruled on prior to the trial on August 4.
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