Judge dismisses Mike Scott's drug charges, cites racial profiling

Free-agent forward Mike Scott was cleared by a Georgia superior court of charges in a felony drug case stemming from his arrest in July of 2015, The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

The superior court judge in Banks County, Ga., suppressed all evidence and dismissed the case after concluding that Scott's arrest had been the result of bad practices tied to racial profiling.

Scott and his younger brother were arrested in Banks County after the vehicle his younger brother was driving got pulled over for following too closely, and was later found to contain marijuana and MDMA. After claiming the drugs belonged to him, and that his brother had no knowledge of their presence in the vehicle, Scott was charged with felony possession of marijuana and possession of a Schedule I drug. He entered a plea of not guilty last July.

The judge granted Scott's motion to suppress evidence in the case, citing testimony that showed a pattern of racial profiling by Banks County law enforcement. In his summation, the judge concluded that the brothers' arrest was made without probable cause, that the search of the vehicle was improper, and that "sufficient articulable suspicion did not exist to uphold the stop of the Scott vehicle," Wojnarowski reports.

"In my 35 years of practicing law, this could be the worst case of racial profiling I have ever seen," Scott's attorney told Wojnarowski. "Hopefully this will lead to Banks County, Georgia, re-evaluating their policies."

Scott had a difficult season on the court. He played in just 18 games for the Atlanta Hawks due to knee injuries, was traded to the Phoenix Suns for cap relief at the deadline, and was promptly waived.

When healthy, the 28-year-old has proven to be an effective stretch four who can capably guard either forward spot. In 281 games across five seasons with the Hawks, he averaged 7.1 points and three rebounds, with a .460/.336/.786 shooting line and a 14.6 PER.