JUDGE ORDERS ACQUITTAL IN MARIJUANA CASE AGAINST 'HASSLED' MAN

A deputy prosecutor failed to convince a judge that Corey Longs had
possession of some marijuana that police found near his car May 2.

Superior Court Judge Jerome Frese acquitted Longs after a two-hour
bench trial on Aug. 22. That means Longs has won the latest round in
his ongoing dispute with the South Bend Police Department.

Longs, 22, says the South Bend police have singled him out for
harassment ever since the city settled his claim over alleged
wrongdoing by the police. Without admitting any wrongdoing, the city
agreed last year to pay Longs and his girlfriend $9,000 after the
couple alleged that police had entered their home illegally Oct. 8,
1998.

Ever since then, Longs said, the police won't leave him alone. He said
they often follow him around and stop him for traffic violations. They
frequently impound his car for minor traffic offenses, causing him to
pay towing and impound fees.

I have written articles in the past about his hassles with the
police.

Police say they suspect Longs is a drug dealer and may be involved in
other illegal activities, although he has never been convicted of any
drug-related charges. Indeed, police never seem to find any drugs on
him during numerous traffic stops.

His latest trial involved an incident that happened May 2. Cpl.
Jennifer Anders testified that she was on her way to another call when
she saw Longs sitting in his stopped car on the west side of Johnson
Street, just north of Lincoln Way West. That's an area noted for
illegal drug trafficking, she said.

The officer said a man was standing in the street next to Longs' car,
and Longs had something in his hand that she thought might be a baggie
of marijuana. As she passed the car, she said, she told the man to get
out of the street.

Anders said she drove down to the next corner and turned around. By
that time the man had walked away and Longs had started to drive away.
She made no effort to stop the man who was walking away, but she did
stop Longs to investigate her suspicions of drug trafficking.

The officer said she didn't find any drugs on Longs or in his car, but
she found a small baggie containing a "green leafy substance" along
the curb near where his car had been stopped. The substance tested
positive for marijuana, according to Cpl. Mark Szweda.

Longs testified that the man he had been talking to had been
interested in buying his car. He said the item that was in his hand
was not a baggie of marijuana but was a napkin on which he had written
his phone number to give to the other man.

Jeff Kimmell, Longs' attorney, established that the location of the
baggie near the curb made it unlikely that it had been dropped or
tossed from the driver's side of the car, which was away from the
curb. He also argued that no evidence was presented to link the baggie
in the street to Longs.

Judge Frese said Deputy Prosecutor Rick Metzger failed to elicit
testimony that would have connected Longs to the baggie.

Indeed, Metzger had neglected to have the baggie of marijuana brought
over from the police department's evidence locker, and a police
officer was dispatched to transport it to the courthouse.

Once the trial was under way, Frese at times had to coach Metzger
about what kinds of questions he should be asking. Metzger also was
getting advice from a couple of other deputy prosecutors who were in
the courtroom with him, one of whom was chided by the judge for
appearing in shirtsleeves instead of a coat and tie.

Before announcing his verdict, Frese commented that "reasonable doubt
is a very strong thing here." Although he found it likely that Longs
did have the baggie, the evidence did not prove that beyond a
reasonable doubt, Frese said.

"He gets the benefit of the doubt," Frese said, ruling for
acquittal.

Meanwhile, Longs will be back in court next month on two other
misdemeanor cases that are pending against him. One involves two
counts of driving with a suspended license and one of resisting arrest
April 23 at Colfax Avenue and Chapin Street. The other involves two
counts of battery of a police officer and one of resisting arrest from
an incident April 13.

Those trials were supposed to take place Aug. 22 also, but Metzger
asked for a continuance because the prosecutor's office had neglected
to subpoena some key witnesses.

Frese dismissed another case stemming from an alleged resisting arrest
incident June 27 in the 400 block of North Olive Street. The
prosecutor's office has failed to file the charges in that case.