ON SECOND THOUGHT

An appeals court ruling on racial profiling stymied the trial of two black
drug suspects who assert they were profiled.

The Mercer County trial of two black drug-dealing suspects -- who claim
they were racially targeted by two black state troopers -- ended abruptly
yesterday because of a new appeals court ruling on the racial profiling issue.

"This case is not ripe for trial," declared Superior Court Judge Paul T.
Koenig Jr. in dismissing the jury panel during the second day of the
jury-selection process.

Koenig postponed the trial indefinitely in the wake of three appeals court
opinions on Wednesday that dope-dealing suspects stopped by police may now
seek profiling information against the officers in light of the 1999
Attorney General's report confirming that the practice existed.

Twice previously, Koenig had denied defense motions to throw out the drug
evidence against the two defendants on racial profiling grounds.

On both of those occasions, the judge said he believed Troopers Glynn Moore
and Marc Stephens in their pre-trial testimony that they stopped the
defendants not because of their race, but because their car was clocked at
80 mph in a 55-mph zone on the New Jersey Turnpike in Mercer County on June
1, 1997.

However, that was prior to Wednesday's opinions by Appellate Division
Judges Edwin Stern, Ariel Rodriguez and Robert Fall applying the Attorney
General's interim report on profiling to the past arrests and convictions
of minorities on drug charges.

"I'd be spittin' in the wind to force this case to go to trial now," said
Koenig in granting a defense motion to delay the trial to seek information
on whether a State Police policy of profiling applies to the case.

Assistant Prosecutor Skylar Weissman unsuccessfully asked Koenig to proceed
with the case yesterday, citing the troopers' pre-trial testimony that
while they knew about widespread profiling by other troopers, they never
engaged in the practice themselves.

Defense lawyer Robin Lord said she would use the additional time to gather
data on the two troopers, such as the race of those they arrested in past
turnpike stops.

The two defendants, Christopher Morris, 27, and Andre London, 33, both of
Coatesville, Pa., face prison terms of 20 years if convicted on the
first-degree drug charges. They could get life terms if sentenced as
persistent felons because of previous drug convictions, the prosecutor said.

The postponement marks the second time the trial has been delayed in two
months.

On Oct. 18, Koenig ordered a mistrial because jurors were overheard -- by a
court aide outside the jury room -- discussing the case against the judge's
instructions.

In addition, London's lawyer, Timothy Howes, yesterday noted that the trial
must be further delayed because, under a new court rule, as the municipal
prosecutor of Washington Township he can no longer continue representing a
criminal defendants in Mercer County after Jan. 1. "I don't think this case
will ever see a jury now," Howes said.