A judge says he won't throw out evidence collected from the chambers of a retired Western Pennsylvania judge accused of stealing cocaine seized in police investigations.
The Washington Observer-Reporter reports Thursday the judge ruled investigators didn't need a warrant to search ex-Washington County judge Paul Pozonsky's chambers because the items involved were missing court exhibits, not personal property.
The 58-year-old Pozonsky is charged with conflict of interest, theft, obstruction of justice, possession of a controlled substance and misapplying entrusted government property.
Pozonsky's lawyer argued a president judge's order to search Pozonsky's chambers was an illegal attempt to "circumvent the Fourth Amendment."
Prosecutors say they obtained the order over concern for "the integrity of the evidence."
Pozonsky moved to Alaska in 2012 after 15 years as a common pleas judge.
