DARE DEPUTY'S FIRING OVER BOOZE-POT BUST UPHELD

The county Civil Service Commission yesterday upheld the firing of a
Sheriff's Department DARE officer who was arrested on suspicion of driving
under the influence of alcohol and marijuana Jan. 2.

Commissioner Mary Gwen Brummitt called former Deputy Linda Hearn's actions
"egregious" and "a violation of law and Sheriff's Department policy."

Brummitt expressed particular concern that Hearn was under the influence of
narcotics while driving her vehicle in Lakeside at night and questioned her
integrity in initially denying her use of marijuana to investigators.

Brummitt said Hearn's actions were "so serious that she cannot be reinstated."

The decision was reached after hearings last month. Hearn earlier stated
she was under emotional and physical stress from a variety of personal
problems at the time. She could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Contacted in Ventura, Hearn's attorney, Maury Mills, called the decision "a
travesty and ludicrous."

Mills said Hearn had a number of personal tragedies, including two deaths
in her family the month before she was arrested, and she was caring for a
seriously ill mother and sister.

Mills also said that just prior to her arrest, Hearn had undergone
periodontal surgery and was taking a a prescription narcotic to ease the pain.

"The painkiller made her very sick and nauseous and a friend gave her a few
marijuana cigarettes to ease the sickness," Mills said.

Hearn, 44, was fired May 24 after an investigation by the Sheriff's Department.

As a DARE officer, her job was to convey an anti-drug message to county
youths. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program sends uniformed
deputies or officers to teach anti-drug lessons in the classroom.

The California Highway Patrol officer who stopped Hearn said he smelled a
strong odor of alcohol and burnt marijuana in Hearn's 1989 Chevy pickup, a
CHP report said.

Hearn acknowledged to Officer Donald Coney that she had two cocktails at a
friend's house in Lakeside.

A report showed Hearn failed a field sobriety test. But her blood-alcohol
level was measured at .07, below the limit of .08 where a person is
presumed drunk. Tests also detected a small amount of marijuana in her system.

Hearn, a 15-year member of the Sheriff's Department, pleaded guilty to a
lesser charge of alcohol-related reckless driving, which is a standard
reduction for first-time offenders.

She was sentenced to three years probation, fined $900 and ordered to
complete an alcohol-education program.

School officials and parents were shocked, saddened and sympathetic when
told of her arrest. They praised her for her work.

In 1999, Hearn was one of seven finalists selected from 1,000 contenders
for the statewide "DARE Officer of the Year."