Judge Michael Gardner denied a motion Wednesday to suppress global-positioning system information about a Cape Girardeau man accused of shooting a man in the stomach.

Cape Girardeau County sheriff’s deputy Alan Nobles, the department’s liaison with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, received a search warrant signed by Judge Gary Kamp on May 28, 2014. The warrant allowed officers to attach a GPS tracking device to a Chrysler 300 car driven by Tommy Joe Davis III, 31, of Cape Girardeau.

At the time, Nobles suspected Davis of money laundering and drug trafficking.

In testimony Wednesday, Nobles said Davis was being tracked by Illinois State Police. Nobles was part of an investigative team that observed Davis’ activities at the Isle of Capri Casino, where Davis had made several exchanges of up to $8,000 for chips.

Investigators placed the tracking device on the Chrysler 300 when it was parked at the casino, Nobles said.

“With my training and with my experience, if an individual purchases under $10,000 in chips on multiple occasions, they are structuring buy-ins to avoid detection from the federal government,” Nobles said.

Nobles also mentioned Davis was arrested in 2007 in Texas on suspicion of money laundering and suspected to be traveling from Phoenix, which Nobles said is a common destination for large-scale drug activity.

“We determined he was using that vehicle to smuggle either money or drugs,” Nobles said.

The probe did not produce evidence to establish probable cause for drug or laundering charges on Davis, but the tracking device determined the Chrysler 300 was at the scene of the shooting at 523 Olive St. at 5 a.m. June 4, 2014, when the victim was shot in the stomach.

The victim said he opened his door, and Davis shot him in the stomach, according to a probable-cause statement filed by Cape Girardeau police.

The drug investigation had nothing to do with the shooting, but it was a happy accident, Nobles said in response to a question from assistant prosecuting attorney Angel Woodruff.

Defense attorney Gordon Glaus questioned Nobles on the validity of the search warrant, emphasizing it never was proven Davis smuggled drugs or money.

“The GPS warrant would allow us to determine whether he was doing that or not,” Nobles said.

The case is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Aug. 1 and trial Aug. 9.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

523 Olive St., Cape Girardeau, MO