ROTHBURY, Mich. — A man charged with a drug offense stemming from last year’s Electric Forest Music Festival has failed to get evidence against him thrown out.
Nathan Allen Hawk is facing a drug charge for hallucinogenic mushrooms police say they found in his backpack during the four-day music festival in Rothbury, Mich.
He was arrested during an undercover investigation targeting his girlfriend, Darby Zufall. An undercover officer arranged to purchase LSD from her, court records show. Zufall was also arrested.
During an exchange between Zufall and the undercover officer, Hawk “told him that it was strong LSD and to be careful with it,’’ court records show.
As police initiated the June 27, 2019 arrests, Hawk “purportedly threw the backpack he had slung over his shoulder away from him and also allegedly resisted’’ attempts by police to place him under arrest.
Police say a later search of Hawk’s backpack revealed hallucinogenic mushrooms, leading to a charge of delivery/manufacture of a controlled substance.
Hawk argued the police lacked probable cause to arrest him and to subsequently conduct a warrantless search of his backpack. In a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court disagreed.
“The search of the defendant’s abandoned backpack did not violate his Fourth Amendment rights,’’ the appeals court wrote.
In a dissent, Justice Douglas B. Shapiro said he does not believe there was probable cause to arrest Hawk.
Hawk was with Zufall when she met with the undercover officer, but “mere presence is not grounds for arrest,’’ Shapiro wrote. “Here, the attempted sale occurred in the middle of a music festival well-known for attendees’ use of psychedelic drugs.’’
In such a setting, “it would not be unusual for a seller to be with a person not involved in the sale,’’ Shapiro wrote.
“At best, the detective only had a hunch or suspicion of defendant’s involvement in the drug transaction, which is an insufficient basis on which to justify an arrest.’’
The criminal case against Hawk is pending in Oceana County Circuit Court.
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