NORWICH – One of two Norwich residents targeted in a recent drug raid appeared in City Court Tuesday to challenge the assertion that he committed any serious crime, asking the judge to throw out the top felony charges against him.
Following months of investigation by the Norwich City Police and New York State Troopers, police arrested 39-year-old David A. Cahill and his 21-year-old live-in girlfriend, Rachael A. Cummings, on charges of trafficking heroin at their residence at 4 Lee Ave.
Police forced their way into the home at 7:50 a.m. on Sept. 30, just moments after Cahill’s three children, ages 5, 7 and 9, boarded the bus for school.
Police seized nine individually-wrapped packages of heroin stamped with the words “Game Over” on them, each worth approximately $20 a piece on the street.
Cahill and Cummings had identical charges filed against them, the top count being third degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class B felony which prosecutors said carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison.
The couple was also charged with first degree criminal nuisance, a class E felony, and second degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.
Acting on Cahill’s behalf, Public Defender John D. Cameron called upon the prosecution to show the court that the discovered drugs could be connected to his client and prove that there was “reasonable cause” to charge him with the felony-level crimes.
Testifying at the felony hearing, Norwich Police Officer Reuben Roach said he discovered the heroin concealed inside a flashlight tucked into a dresser drawer.
The four-year police veteran was part of the department’s seven-man tactical entry team and then joined the evidence collection team, which was processing the site following the couple’s arrest. He told First Assistant District Attorney Stephen M. Dunshee he was tasked with searching the couple’s bedroom and that he had received special training on evidence detection and handling.
Cameron inquired if the officer had any knowledge of the search warrant which allegedly authorized the dynamic entry. Roach said he had no information regarding the warrant and Cameron demanded that the prosecution produce a copy for his and the court’s review.
Dunshee then called Norwich Deputy Chief Rodney Marsh to the stand, who brought with him a copy of the warrant signed by Chenango County Court Judge W. Howard Sullivan.
On the stand, Marsh recalled an interview with Cahill in the hours just after his arrest. “I asked him about the suspect heroin we found in his bedroom, and he responded that it was basically not his, that he never kept it in the house, that he buried it in the yard,” said Marsh.
Cahill seemed to raise an audible objection to the testimony in court, but was quieted by his attorney. Cameron did object to the line of questioning by the ADA, asking its relevance to the matter before the court, but was overruled by the Judge James Downey.
“So he said the heroin in the house wasn’t his, but acknowledged he had dealt with the drug?” reiterated Dunshee to Marsh. “So whose drugs did he say they were?”
“He said that he never kept drugs in the house and that they were probably Rachael’s,” responded Marsh.
In an earlier appearance, the 21-year-old South Otselic native told Downey that she had never had a residence in her name before and only lived with Cahill for the last two months after moving out of her parents’ house.
Marsh said police were forced to stop their interview with Cahill after he told them he was becoming ill from heroin withdrawal.
Downey found in favor of the prosecution, saying he believed there was reasonable cause that Cahill may have committed a felony-level offense and ordered the case go before a higher court.
Dunshee said the DA’s office had the intention of indicting both defendants before a grand jury later in the month. If indicted, the case would go to Chenango County Supreme Court.
Downey also denied a request to alter the current $50,000 cash bail and Cahill was remanded back to the Chenango County Correctional Facility.
Cummings appeared briefly in court with her defense attorney, Frank B. Revoir Jr., earlier in the day and waived her right to a similar felony hearing, choosing to take her case directly before the grand jury. Her bail was maintained at $25,000 cash and she was also remanded back to the county jail.