It was the fourth day of the trial of Wester, charged with a multitude of offenses for allegedly planting drugs and paraphernalia in the vehicles of innocent motorists. He was arrested in July 2019 after a lengthy FDLE investigation.
Much of the testimony focused on Wester’s patrol vehicle and the unmarked contraband found in the trunk and elsewhere, including containers with methamphetamine and marijuana, a syringe and other items.
Wester’s defense lawyer, Ryan Davis, has suggested through questioning that the vehicle, which was stored in a Sheriff’s Office helicopter bay, was not properly secured for more than a month after it was impounded.
Eight of Wester’s alleged victims testified on Monday and Tuesday, and several more took the stand Wednesday, including a woman who said cigarettes and Dr Pepper were her only vices when she was arrested on a meth charge.
Kimberly Hazelwood testified that she and her husband, Jeremy Hazelwood, and their young children had just moved to Marianna when Wester pulled over their white van in June 2018. Wester searched the van after another deputy’s K-9 unit signaled around the front passenger seat and found an Excedrin bottle with meth inside.
Prosecutors played Wester’s body camera footage of the stop, including an emotional Hazelwood trying to explain that they didn’t have any drugs in the van.