A Penn State student's drug charges were dismissed Friday as a state judge ruled a State College Police Department officer had no right to enter the student's property.
Collin M. Rowe, 24, was convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia on April 25, 2008, after State College Police Department Cpl. William Muse entered the opened door of Rowe's 420 E. Foster Ave. property on June 8, 2007 without a warrant and without suspicion of criminal activity, according to court documents.
Muse called out his identity and walked into Rowe's empty bedroom at about 10:30 p.m. the night of the incident, where he found and took a glass pipe and left his business card for Rowe to call him, according to court documents.
"In fact there are no factors that can arguably support Corporal Muse's entry into the home," the state judge wrote in the opinion. "The fact that a door is open during evening hours on a June night certainly does not support such entry. People routinely leave doors ajar to get fresh air."
