San Diego

Cocaine charges against cult deprogrammer Ted Patrick were dismissed Tuesday by a judge who said a district attorney’s investigator acted unreasonably when he broke into a locked closet during a house search.

Breaking down the locked closet door and prying open a box found inside amounted to an unreasonable search, Municipal Court Judge E. Mac Amos Jr. said in throwing the charge out.

A small vial of cocaine reportedly was found inside the box.

Outside court, Patrick said that the first time he saw the vial was in court when it was introduced as evidence.

Defense attorney Roy Gunner said the box in which the cocaine was found belonged to Patrick’s late son, who drowned three years ago. He said Patrick had stored some of his son’s belongings in the closet but didn’t know the vial was inside.

Gunner, a former prosecutor, called the search “plain old harassment” on the part of the district attorney. That allegation was dismissed as nonsense by district attorney spokesman Steve Casey.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Harry Elias said he may appeal Amos’ ruling.

Patrick still faces a July 11 hearing on allegations that he violated probation by accepting money to retrieve a Texas woman’s daughter from a religious organization.

He was convicted in 1980 on a kidnaping charge stemming from the deprogramming of a Tucson, Ariz., waitress who was a member of a cult. Patrick spent a year in jail and was placed on five years’ probation. One of the conditions of the probation, scheduled to expire in September, was that he refrain from deprogramming activities.

In the early 1970s, Patrick gained a national reputation with his method of isolating young members of unconventional religious groups and convincing them, after hours of persuasion, to renounce their association.