Items found during a search of Michael Valandra's car can be used as evidence when the former member of the Rosebud tribal council goes on trial for sex crimes. Valandra, 49, was arrested in April and charged with solicitation of a minor and sexual contact with a minor.

On Tuesday, 7th Circuit Court Judge A.P. "Pete" Fuller ruled that condoms, a cell phone and pornographic DVDs found during a search of Valandra's car will be allowed as evidence.

Valandra's attorney had asked the judge to suppress the evidence that was found while his client sat in the backseat of a patrol car immediately after his arrest in the parking lot at the Rushmore Mall. But Fuller said a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision made the search of Valandra's car justified because officers assumed there was relevant evidence in the car.

Valandra's trial is scheduled to begin March 10, 2010.