MISSING DRUGS COULD JEOPARDIZE PROSECUTION OF CASES

DELAND -- Defense attorneys said this week the stolen narcotics from
the Sheriff's Office evidence compound could be crucial to drug cases.
One case could even be dismissed.

The narcotics were from six cases, four of which are still open. In
some cases, a portion of the drugs were stolen, but in others all the
narcotics are gone.

It's too early to tell what effect the missing drugs will have on the
prosecution of these cases, said David Smith, first assistant state
attorney. He said it would come down to evaluating the cases
individually and the condition of the remaining evidence.

Nearly 900 grams of cocaine and several hundred pounds of marijuana
were stolen from the facility by a Sheriff's Office employee,
authorities say. An evidence employee has been suspended and an arrest
is imminent, Sheriff Ben Johnson said last week.

Timothy W. Wallace, administrative coordinator at the facility, was
suspended without pay Jan. 22 pending an ongoing internal
investigation, sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. Officials would
not confirm whether Wallace was the target of the criminal
investigation, but none of the other full-time evidence employees have
been suspended.

The theft was discovered when a sheriff's investigator found out
during a Jan. 8 deposition that only a portion of seized cocaine was
sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab. While it's not
unusual to send half of a large amount of drugs, the investigator went
to the evidence compound Jan. 12 to reconcile the discrepancy and
found all the drugs from the case were missing, Davidson said.

That case is against Francisco Mercado, from whom narcotics agents
seized about 577 grams of cocaine.

Smith said he wasn't sure of the specifics of all the cases the thefts
affected, but the missing evidence could have a negative impact.

"In a case where all the evidence is gone, that's going to be pretty
hard," he said.

Mercado's defense attorney, Joseph Warren, said it's possible the
state would be forced to drop the charges against his client because
it doesn't have any evidence to present to a jury, or a judge could
dismiss the case.

He said he intends to make a motion to dismiss the case after he
receives details from the Sheriff's Office investigation.

"Regardless, the state has a lot of problems because this is not the
only case with (a) theft," Warren said.

He added it could be construed that any narcotics stored in the area
where the thefts occurred were subject to tampering. So it could
affect more cases than the ones where drugs are missing.

"Unfortunately, that's a very real possibility," Warren
said.

In another case, narcotics agents seized about 840 grams of cocaine
from a DeBary home in May 2003 and arrested Ismael Velazquez. He was
charged with trafficking cocaine , defense attorney Hal Uhrig said.

About 282 grams of cocaine is missing.

"That missing evidence would have been substantial," Uhrig
said.

Because the case isn't going to trial, the theft won't have a
significant impact. But the loss would have compromised the state's
case, Uhrig said.

He said with a third of the drugs missing, he would question whether
the other two-thirds were tampered with.

"Clearly there has not been an integrity of the chain of custody," he
said. "I would have had it all thrown out."

Smith said prosecutors must establish a chain of custody at trial to
show the evidence was taken from where they said it was, was properly
maintained and correctly sent to a lab. Then an analyst must show it
is what they say it is -- such as cocaine or marijuana.

"If you don't have that, how are you going to say that's what went to
the lab," he said, adding officials have to prove the chain of custody
before the lab reports become relevant.

Drugs were taken from two other open cases, but the impact isn't
known.

In March 1995, a package from Mexico intended for DeLand was
intercepted. The package contained about 178 pounds of compressed
marijuana. Salvador Trujillo and Teresa Estrada, who Davidson said
either accepted the package or tried to hide it later, were prosecuted
federally. A third defendant was never found so the case remains open.
About 165 pounds of marijuana is missing.

In June 2000, narcotics agents seized about 515 pounds of marijuana
and several items of drug paraphernalia during raids in Pierson and
DeLeon Springs. They charged Celso Garcia and Domingo Molina with
trafficking in cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia. Garcia
fled to Mexico and Molina stood trial. About 50 pounds of marijuana is
missing.

Drugs also were taken in two closed cases. About 130 pounds of
marijuana is missing from a 1998 case where 1,100 pounds were seized
and all 25 pounds of marijuana from another case was stolen.