Charges have been dropped in 11 more drug cases, bringing to 23 the number of dismissed cases involving fired Lawrence Police officer Stuart “Mike” Peck.

Police Chief Ron Olin fired Peck last month on the heels of a ruling by Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone that Peck gave misleading information about a confidential informant to obtain a search warrant in a drug case.

A Lawrence defense attorney said the turn of events gave defense teams the opportunity to chip away at police credibility in cases that had nothing to do with Peck.

“You can allude to it in other cases and raise questions about the veracity of the state’s evidence,” attorney Martin Miller said.

A police spokesman used a sports metaphor. He said his department has had a string of losses.

“We’re in a downturn,” Lt. David Cobb said. “I think we’re going to bounce back.”

Peck said the dismissals were making Lawrence Police afraid to be aggressive in their work. They’ve given up what he called “knock and talks” — going to an address where an officer suspects illegal activity, then asking for consent to search.

“It hurts,” Peck said. “I’ve had officers tell me in confidence that they’re afraid to do aggressive police work … because they’ve seen what happened to me.”

Of the most recent batch of 11 dismissals, eight involve misdemeanor drug-possession charges. Three involve felonies: selling ecstasy at a downtown nightclub, a marijuana-dealing case and a methamphetamine-possession case.

¢ Analysis: Dismissed cases raise questions of justice (2-27-03)¢ Officer’s firing unanimously upheld (2-26-02)¢ Drug cop blames conspiracy (2-25-03)¢ County D.A. dismisses another drug-related case¢ Six more drug cases dismissed (2-23-03)¢ Fired officer files appeal (2-19-03)¢ Suspended officer fired (2-11-03)¢ 6News video: Officer to appeal dismissal(2-11-03)¢ Join the discussion on our community forum¢ Another Peck case dismissed (2-8-03)¢ Informant steps up to defend suspended policeman (2-2-03)¢ Court tosses tainted cases (1-31-03)¢ City’s top drug cop suspended (1-28-03)¢ 6News video: Top drug officer suspended (1-28-03)

Peck’s role in the methamphetamine possession arrest was controversial long before his firing. The suspect’s attorney argued that Peck had no legal grounds for the stop that led to the arrest and had moved to suppress all evidence seized from the stop.

The suspect was a passenger in a truck Peck stopped on July 10, 2001. According to an affidavit, Peck stopped the truck for erratic driving, saw a bottle of malt liquor in the cab, and arrested the driver for having an open container of alcohol.

Peck then detained the passenger at the scene so that he could look for more open containers, according to court records. As he searched the car, he found methamphetamine in a cigarette package on the floor close to the passenger and arrested him because he was close to the drug.

Later, police found methamphetamine in the defendant’s pocket during a search, but defense attorney Richard Frydman argued that Peck had no grounds to detain his client or arrest him in the first place.

“There was absolutely no evidence that defendant had been using or distributing drugs,” Frydman wrote.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Dan Dunbar argued Peck could have reasonably believed the drugs on the floor of the truck were the defendant’s, in part because they were within his reach.

According to the court file, the case was dismissed before a judge had an opportunity to rule on whether the evidence should be admitted.