Motion to suppress hearing held July 22

It was the half-hour wait for a K9 officer to arrive  on scene during a traffic stop that led to a motion to suppress hearing in Ozark County Circuit Court on July 22.

The defendant, Lashanna Lambert, claimed that the 33-minutes it took for off-duty K9 handler Deputy Josh Sherman to arrive at a traffic stop location in Udall was “constitutionally deficient.” After hearing her attorney’s thoughts and testimony of three witnesses, Judge Craig Carter overruled the defendant’s request to suppress evidence, and that evidence will be allowed at trial. 

According to testimony and court documents, Lt. Matt Rhoades and Deputy Hunter Ryan were patrolling in Udall on Feb 17, 2025, when they observed a car belonging to Lambert’s roommate crossing the center line three times. Lambert’s roommate had an outstanding warrant and at 6:15 p.m., the officers stopped the car.

The driver, Joshua Benson, was arrested on the outstanding felony warrant for driving while revoked. Lambert was a passenger in the vehicle. Lt. Rhoades testified that the couple were previously known to the officers because a search warrant had been executed at their home. During the execution of that warrant, he said methamphetamine, a syringe filled with meth and firearms were found in the home. 

According to Rhoades’ testimony, Benson and Lambert were extremely nervous and told conflicting stories about their destination during the stop with one person said they were heading to purchase milk, and the other saying they were going to the hospital.

Benson was taken into custody, and Lambert was told she could leave. Lambert told officers that she could get proof of insurance for the vehicle, according to court documents. Officers say she stayed with the vehicle and began calling people in order to try and get that proof. However, even after making several calls, she wasn’t able to provide the proof of insurance, reports say.

Officers were given permission to search the vehicle by Benson. Ozark County Sheriff’s K9 handler and Deputy Josh Sherman was off duty at the time, but at 6:24 p.m., officers on scene requested that Sherman bring K9 Karo to conduct an “free air sniff” search. Sherman and Karo arrived at the car at 6:57 p.m. and Karo alerted on the car at 6:59 p.m., the report says The officers then conducted a physical search of the vehicle. 

Inside the vehicle, they reportedly found a rifle in the back seat and a rubber container that field-tested positive for methamphetamine in the glove compartment. At that time, Lambert was taken into custody for possession of a controlled substance.

During Lambert’s testimony at the suppression hearing, defense attorney Bethany Turner said the wait for the K9 drug dog to conduct the search was “constitutionally deficient.”

According to the judge’s ruling, he disagreed with the attorney’s opinion for two reasons: the wait time from phone call to search was deemed reasonable, and Lambert voluntarily remained at the scene despite being told she could leave. Lambert is set to reappear in the case at 9 a.m. Sept. 9.