A Winona man has been remanded to a Grand Jury on separate charges.
Eddie Green has been charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and attempting to destroy evidence. At a preliminary hearing on Jan. 12, he pleaded not guilty.
Officer Tanareika Williams took the stand to testify about her encounter with Green on Dec. 15. She stated she pulled him over for improper equipment and that, once she began talking to him, she noticed something else.
“As he was checking for his license, I asked if there was anything in the vehicle, and he was like, ‘no,’ but the whole time I was looking at a bag of meth in his door handle,” Williams said.
She went on to say that Green tried to hide the bag, and she advised him “you just go on ahead and hand it here.”
She testified that she then told Green to step out of the vehicle, and he reached for the clear bag and attempted to hide it in his pocket. Williams said that Green then went to the back of his car and attempted to stamp out the contents of the clear bag after dropping the open bag to the ground.
Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Adams-Williams asked Williams if she and Capt. Matt Milletello, who arrived at the scene shortly after Williams pulled Green over, were “able to retrieve any of [the bag contents],” and Williams testified that they were.
Williams testified the Winona Police Department was able to test the substance they retrieved from the scene.
Adams-Williams then questioned Williams about another substance that was found, according to an affidavit.
“I see that the substance of cocaine [was] found as well. Give us some testimony in regards to where the cocaine was found. It was found in his driver’s side door?” Adams-Williams asked.
Williams responded with “yes,” stating that the substance was found while searching Green’s car following his arrest for disorderly conduct and attempted destruction of evidence.
Adams-Williams asked Williams if the cocaine substance was field tested, and Williams responded that it was.
“It showed that it was positive for cocaine,” questioned Adams-Williams.
“Yes, ma’am,” Williams said.
After Williams testified, Milletello took the stand to give his statement.
“I was there in the very beginning. Witnessed the same follow calls for the stop. I was actually in front of [Williams] in traffic. She and I both were traveling west on Summit Street towards Highway 51. I witnessed Mr. Green’s vehicle [had] one headlight as I passed, and I knew exactly who it was that I passed,” Milletello stated.
After turning his vehicle around to pull up to the stop, he continued, he could “tell things were a little non-compliant at the window.” He heard Williams ask Green to step out of the car, and he exited his vehicle to be of assistance to Williams.
“The entire time [Green’s] fidgeting in his hands, in his pockets, and he is walking to the trunk of his vehicle. I see a clear plastic bag on the ground. He stomps on it. I immediately went ahead and placed him under custody and told him he was under arrest for being non-compliant,” Milletello said.
He went on to say officers found cocaine substance in the map pocket of the driver’s side door during a search following Green’s arrest.
After Milletello stepped down, Green’s court appointed attorney, Tangala Hollis-Palmer, argued that “there’s not enough probable cause for Mr. Green to be bound over for the grand jury,” and this was the only motion made by the defense.
Adams-Williams said, “We would offer from the city Mr. Green’s charge of being in possession of these items. It really doesn’t matter if someone else owned them or if he admitted or not. The charge is simple possession. He was the only one in his vehicle. There’s no other reason why we would have to think that anyone else other than Mr. Green was in possession of these drugs.”
Judge Keith Stokes Roberts asked for the defendant to rise and made his ruling, “Eddie Octavius Green, the court finds, based upon the testimony of possession of controlled substance, [the second] testimony of controlled substance, and the case of tampering with physical evidence, the court finds that a crime was committed in all three cases, and all three cases [were] committed in the court’s jurisdiction, the City of Winona. Probable cause does exist. Therefore, the court binds the defendant over to await the action of the Grand Jury.”
The bond for all three cases is $65,000. Adams-Williams asked on behalf of the city that no reduction be made.
“We would offer that he’s already out on bond, he’s not entitled to bond,” said Adams-Williams. She also informed the judge that Green has been indicted on that previous charge.
Judge Roberts decided that “bond remains at $65,000 and the first bond be revoked.”
Green was then remanded back to the custody of WPD to await trial at the Grand Jury.
