JURY IN MURPHY CASE ADJOURNS FOR WEEKEND

A jury deciding whether former Snohomish County Sheriff Patrick Murphy will
be compensated for state actions was sent home Friday afternoon and is
scheduled to resume deliberations Monday morning.

Jurors spent 7 1/2hours discussing the case Friday before Superior Court
Judge Ronald Castleberry sent them home for the weekend.

Jurors are deliberating whether the state Board of Pharmacy, a division of
the state Department of Health, is responsible for Murphy's downfall in
1995. Pharmacists alerted the board about unusual prescription patterns for
Murphy involving narcotic drugs for pain and muscle relaxants.

During a four-week trial, the board was accused of negligence and criminal
conspiracy after it surveyed area pharmacies and found that Murphy had
obtained more than 260 prescriptions in 17 months.

Murphy's lawyer presented information showing that the former sheriff had a
chronic jaw injury that caused him extreme pain. Also, he suffered from a
number of injuries attributed to accidents.

Board representatives informed top Snohomish County officials about the
drug use, saying they were fearful for Murphy's health and concerned for
public safety because he carried a gun and drove a county car.

Disclosure of the confidential health information eventually led to a
criminal probe, and ultimately criminal charges of fraudulently obtaining
the drugs filed by a special prosecutor. The charges were later dropped
after a judge ruled that gathering the information and talking to Murphy's
doctors without a search warrant violated the law.

The criminal charges were filed days before a November election for
sheriff, and Murphy lost to current Sheriff Rick Bart.

Murphy's lawyer is asking for $10 million or more in damages, saying the
former sheriff hasn't worked since, has been depressed and the battle
against the criminal charges interfered with progress he made after jaw
surgery.

What's more, the lawyer has alleged that the state action ruined Murphy's
reputation.

State lawyers, on the other hand, argued that Murphy was his own worst
enemy, first by not reporting he was taking a high volume of drugs, and
then by not explaining the situation.

They also showed that Murphy's physicians often didn't know when other
doctors were prescribing pain medication.