MOORHEAD, MN — The parents of a middle school student accused of handing out THC-laced candy at Horizon Middle School are asking a Clay County judge to suppress evidence collected from their home. Martin and Amanda Hulst were charged after students became sick last spring, and their attorneys now argue police violated their Fourth Amendment rights when they searched the family residence.
The motions could shape how prosecutors proceed in a case that began with a school health scare and quickly expanded into felony drug allegations. Court records say investigators recovered suspected THC products, psychedelic mushrooms and cash during the home search. Defense lawyers contend the warrant was built on unreliable information from a student witness who had her own role in the alleged drug activity.
School illness report triggered police response
Police and emergency responders were called to Horizon Middle School on May 18 after reports that several students were sick or nauseous after eating candy. Investigators later said the candy contained THC, and the Hulsts were each charged the next day, May 19, with several felony counts. The students who became ill had all consumed the candy, according to court filings.
Video from the day of the incident showed the Hulsts’ daughter tearing apart a red item and giving pieces to a group of students inside the school, the warrant application said. The girl also told investigators she felt high that day. She claimed she had received the bag of candy from an unidentified person after getting off the bus at school, but surveillance footage did not support that account.
Defense says warrant relied on one unreliable student
Martin Hulst’s attorney, Michael Minard, argues that the search warrant was based almost entirely on a single student who could not be trusted. In a brief supporting the motion to suppress, he wrote that the child was involved in the alleged criminal conduct herself and that her claims were not backed up by the later search of lockers and backpacks.
That student had previously told a school resource officer that she acted as a kind of middleman for the Hulsts’ daughter in a THC vape cartridge operation at school, court documents say. But when officers searched the lockers and backpacks of both students, they found no THC products or other contraband. Minard says that failure undercut the witness’s credibility and left investigators without enough support for a home search.
Claims about THC vape cartridges and visits to the home
Court documents say the student witness told officers she had received THC cartridges at the Hulst home on two earlier occasions in the previous few months. She also said she saw the Hulsts’ daughter exchange cash and cartridges with a gray-haired man while she was inside the house. Those claims were part of the information police presented to justify the search warrant.
Minard says investigators should have done more to check the story before seeking access to the home. In his filing, he said they could have searched other students’ lockers, interviewed the daughter’s friends or carried out surveillance at the residence. Instead, he argued, police relied too heavily on statements from a 12-year-old who admitted helping move THC products.
Prosecutors say the home search uncovered drugs and cash
Clay County prosecutors have said the search of the Hulsts’ home in the 1100 block of 10½ St. N. turned up prohibited amounts of suspected THC in the form of flowers, cartridges and wax. They also said investigators recovered psychedelic mushrooms and a large amount of cash. Those findings helped support the criminal case now pending against both parents.
Martin and Amanda Hulst face several felony drug sale and possession charges, along with misdemeanor child endangerment. Their attorneys are trying to have the evidence from the home search thrown out before the case moves forward. Prosecutors had not yet filed a response to Martin Hulst’s suppression motion when the court filings were summarized, and Amanda Hulst’s request was filed later on Sept. 16.
Separate motions challenge probable cause in Clay County
Martin Hulst’s motion to suppress was filed in late June, and Minard’s supporting brief was submitted at the end of August. Amanda Hulst’s attorney, Luke Heck, later filed a motion to suppress and dismiss the charges against her, saying law enforcement lacked probable cause to obtain a warrant for her residence.
Both defense filings focus on the same central argument: police moved too quickly and relied on statements that were never properly verified. Minard wrote that the case began with children getting sick after consuming contraband at school, a situation that demanded a fast response. But he said urgency did not erase the constitutional requirement that officers establish probable cause before searching a home.
