PRATT ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL CLEARED OF DRUG CHARGE

David S. Anderson, a former Pratt Elementary School principal, says he
can now move forward with his life after he was found not guilty of
knowingly possessing cocaine.

Anderson, 43, expressed relief when Magistrate Marva L. Crouch read
the verdict.

"I just wanted to tell the truth and let it be heard," Anderson said
after Thursday's jury trial in Kanawha Magistrate Court. "I have good
friends, a wonderful family, and I will move on."

Anderson's friends were calling people on their cells immediately
after leaving the courtroom, excitedly informing them of the verdict.

"We are ecstatic. We are so happy," said Jamil Lambert, a teacher at
Pratt who had worked with Anderson for about a year before his arrest.

"The truth speaks," said Kristina Elson, a former Pratt teacher who
was with Anderson the night of his arrest.

Anderson was charged Oct. 14, 2006, after Charleston Police Detective
J.F. Taylor said he found .2 grams of cocaine in Anderson's back left
pocket.

Anderson admitted that the cocaine was found on his body, but
testified he did not knowingly possess the substance. A person he was
taking home from a bar had planted the drug on him, Anderson said.

Anderson and some fellow educators had gone out to eat at Bennigan's
restaurant Oct. 13, according to witness testimony. After the dinner,
a few of them went to an American Federation of Teachers function.
After that, some of the teachers and the former principal went to
Vandalia's, a Charleston bar. Anderson and Elson left there to go to
another bar, they testified.

A man at the bar repeatedly approached Anderson, asking him for a ride
home. Anderson knew the man through his brother, the principal testified.

Anderson said he kept refusing to grant the ride, but reluctantly gave
in as he left the bar, he and Elson testified.

"When we were leaving, the guy was outside and just hassling us,"
Elson said. "When we were walking outside to our car, he (Anderson)
did agree because he's a good guy and would do anything for anyone."

That is when Anderson's troubles began, the witnesses
said.

Anderson tried to drop the man off at a friend's house behind the
Marriott, but the man refused to get out of the car, Anderson testified.

"I pulled up, put the car in park and he refused to get out. He said
he didn't think his friend was home," Anderson said on the witness
stand.

Anderson was also planning to take Elson home, and she was in the car
while the situation was happening.

"(Anderson was) trying to get him out of the car, but he wouldn't get
out. He had a handful of things he wanted us to hold. He said, 'Walk
with me so I know you won't leave me,'" Elson testified.

So Anderson got out of the car and told Elson to stay in the car and
lock the doors while he walked the man to the house, according to
testimonies.

"I thought, 'If I walk him to his friend's house, he'll leave me
alone,'" Anderson said.

Taylor, who was circling the block in his Charleston police cruiser,
had noticed Anderson's vehicle in the parking lot of the Washington
Manor housing complex and pulled in there to see what was happening.

Taylor walked up to Anderson's car and found Elson sitting in the
passenger seat, he said in his testimony.

As he was talking to her, he saw Anderson walking about 15 feet away
from two other people who were known drug users in the area, Taylor
said in his testimony.

He approached Anderson to ask if he owned the vehicle sitting in the
parking lot, and at that point Anderson "made actions toward his rear
pocket that made me suspicious," Taylor testified.

Taylor asked Anderson to put his hands up, but he kept lowering his
hands toward his back left pocket, Taylor said.

"I went immediately to that pocket because that is where he was
reaching," Taylor testified.

In that pocket, Taylor found the package of cocaine.

But Anderson testified he did not know the cocaine was in his
pocket.

The man "handed me some stuff, took off running, then I turned around
and saw the police officer. I stuck it (the stuff) in my pocket," he
testified.

Some of the items Anderson stuffed in his pocket included the cocaine
and the other man's license, which Taylor also found in Anderson's
pocket, Anderson said in his testimony.

Although Taylor had not requested to see Anderson's license, Anderson
testified he was reaching in his back pocket to show the officer proof
of his identity.

Taylor arrested Anderson, who was later released from South Central
Regional Jail on his own recognizance about 11:30 a.m. Oct. 14.

Anderson's lawyers argued that .038 grams of cocaine was found in the
plastic bag, which is not enough to sell or get high on, they said.
Authorities had called the weight .2 grams --which was the weight of
the cocaine with the plastic bag, lawyers said.

Anderson was tested for drugs two or three days after his arrest, and
no drugs were found in his system, according to paperwork submitted by
defense attorney Bill Forbes.

Kanawha County school board members suspended Anderson without pay
after they learned of his arrest. It's unclear what will happen with
his job now.

His arrest was the impetus for a decision by the board of education to
expand the current policy that subjects only bus drivers and mechanics
to random drug tests.

Under proposed revisions that were discussed Thursday at a board
meeting, all employees would be subject to random tests.