Judge frees Trenton man accused of stashing gun and drugs, denies state’s detention motion

TRENTON >> A Trenton man accused of funneling drugs and a loaded handgun into a stash spot last weekend has been released from the Mercer County Correction Center on a judge’s order, overcoming the state’s efforts to keep him detained without bail.

Tyriq Palmer, 24, secured his conditional freedom on Wednesday as Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw killed the prosecution’s attempt to place him on pretrial detention.

Warshaw acknowledged Palmer’s previous criminal history and said he was concerned about Palmer once again facing weapons charges, but he denied the state’s pretrial detention motion on the grounds that the defendant could be released on conditions that would reasonably assure the protection of the safety of the community.

“The defendant’s ongoing involvement with firearms is something that is very concerning to me,” Warshaw said, citing Palmer’s history of pointing a weapon at someone in January 2013, resulting in him pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a firearm and being sentenced to 18 months behind bars. But the judge ultimately denied the state’s motion for pretrial detention, saying he was not satisfied with the prosecution’s arguments.

Trenton Police detectives arrested Palmer last Saturday – April Fools’ Day – and charged him with several weapons offenses and drug charges.

Police said Palmer had parked a black Lexus on Cleveland Avenue about 5 p.m. and then stashed a yellow plastic bag on the side of a property. Detectives immediately went to the stash spot and found a loaded handgun and heroin inside the bag. Further investigation by police then revealed marijuana, an Endocet painkiller pill and more heroin inside the vehicle, authorities allege.

In total, police confiscated 269 bags of heroin, four grams of pot, a loaded revolver and $220 in cash, which was seized as suspected drug proceeds, police said.

Palmer denies the gun possession charges and views the case as one of “mistaken identity,” according to his public defender Nicole Carlo, who said Palmer was visiting friends in the area of Cleveland Avenue that afternoon and that someone else, not him, must have stashed the contraband.

About two weeks ago, Palmer landed a new job working at a waste management company, but being incarcerated for five days at the county jail made him concerned he might lose the job, Carlo said, adding her client was willing to be released on a variety of conditions, including electronic monitoring.

The state’s Pretrial Services Program recommended Palmer be released with conditions, but that did not stop the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office from filing a motion seeking to keep Palmer in jail without bail pending final resolution of his case that could drag on for months before ending with an acquittal, conviction, plea deal or dismissal of all charges.

Prosecutors made the strongest possible case for pretrial detention. Using all three of the legal justifications in the prosecutorial triad, the state argued that Palmer was at risk for failing to appear in court, that his release on any condition would place the community in danger and that he would be at risk for obstructing or attempting to obstruct the criminal justice process if released from jail pretrial.

Carlo said her client was not a flight risk and suggested that pretrial detention would put Palmer through “financial hardship” that would negatively impact his girlfriend, whom he lives with on Olden Avenue, and his 2-year-old daughter who lives out of state.

Palmer’s court history file shows he has two prior failures to appear, but Warshaw said he was “not persuaded” by the state’s argument that considered the defendant a potential flight risk.

The state argued that Palmer’s prior disorderly persons convictions for hindering and obstruction make him at risk for obstructing or attempting to obstruct the criminal justice process, but Warshaw said he was “not satisfied” with that argument.

Although Palmer was willing to be placed on electronic monitoring, Warshaw allowed the defendant to be released from jail on the following conditions: Palmer must not commit any new offenses; he must not possess any firearm or dangerous weapons; he must not consume any excessive amount of alcohol or use any narcotics without a prescription; he must abide by a curfew to stay at home from the hours of 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. if he is not working and from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. if he is working.