[chris]

An Oklahoma judge suppressed the evidence and granted acquittals in drug cases against Jennifer Lynn Patterson and Michael Dewayne French after Patterson's 11-year-old son called 911 from a Lawton home to report that French was selling marijuana, records show.

The boy told the dispatcher, "I live here with my mom and her boyfriend, and her boyfriend sells marijuana." Charging records list the date of the offense as Jan. 8, 2010.

Officers went to the address and found the boy there with his 1-year-old brother, along with about a quarter pound of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, Lawton police told KWTV. Investigators said the drugs belonged to Patterson, 33, and French, 25.

Police said the boy had been working up to the call for months. He had warned his mother that "drugs are bad" and was told to keep quiet, and he had already gone to neighbors and to his grandparents hoping one of them would act. Lawton police Lt. Todd Palmer said the boy called out of concern for his two younger brothers rather than for himself. "He was really carefully looking after them," Palmer said. Officers called the boy's actions courageous.

Prosecutors charged Patterson and French three days later in Comanche County District Court with unlawful possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and child endangerment. French was also charged with driving with a revoked license. Both pleaded not guilty and bonded out, Patterson on a $10,000 surety bond.

Neither case reached a jury. Both defendants moved to suppress the evidence taken from the house, and on Jan. 20, 2011, after hearing testimony and argument, District Judge Gerald Neuwirth ruled that "all evidence obtained is hereby suppressed," according to the court minute. The judge then granted defense motions for judgment of acquittal, and both cases were closed as acquittals, French's on March 30, 2011, and Patterson's on April 20, 2011. The docket does not spell out the reasoning behind the suppression ruling.

The children became the subject of a juvenile deprived case in the same courthouse, the kind of proceeding Oklahoma opens when the state takes custody of a child. Patterson's bond initially barred her from any contact with them. Judges modified that condition twice in the spring of 2010 to allow supervised visits with two of the children as ordered in the juvenile case, and she was directed not to discuss the criminal charges with a minor child.