AGE OF DRUG DEFENDANT SHOULDN'T DETER PROSECUTION

Most people the same age as Zula Mae Green are being hugged by
grandchildren, getting senior citizen discounts at restaurants and taking
it easy. Green, however, has something else to contend with. Approaching
her 65th birthday, she faces the threat of prison time for alleged drug
trafficking.

And if she's guilty of the crime, she needs to do the time -- despite her age.

The Pilot's Amy Jeter reported this week that, since Green's September 2000
arrest in Portsmouth for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, two
factors have postponed previous court dates: health problems, including a
stroke, and the legislative privilege claimed by her lawyer, Del. Kenneth
R. Melvin, D-Portsmouth. That privilege allows an attorney-lawmaker to
easily gain continuances in court.

"I'm not trying to prolong this," Melvin told me Thursday by phone from
Richmond, as the General Assembly reconvened this week. "This is not a
situation where we'll go to court, and she'll automatically be found
guilty. I think she has a substantial defense."

If that's true, Melvin should make doubly sure he and his client are ready
to go March 24, when the trial has been rescheduled. Or will the delegate
seek further delays again? After all, the longer the case is pushed back,
the longer Green won't face a possible prison term.

Green, of course, is presumed innocent unless proved guilty. She has no
prior convictions, according to court records. She's also a sympathetic
figure: Besides the stroke, she's had heart trouble, Melvin says. And she's
reached an age when many people are considering retirement.

However, drug dealing destroys lives and communities. The attendant
violence leaves grieving families and frightened residents in its wake.
Like many other communities, Portsmouth has battled drug problems. It is
one of three cities nationwide in a pilot program with the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration to try to reduce the demand for narcotics.

Regardless of the age of drug defendants, prosecutors should take a hard
line in bringing these cases to trial. Andrew M. Robbins, the prosecutor in
Green's case, notes that a doctor says she is "ambulatory," and Robbins
says she should be able to sit through a trial.

And in this instance, we're not talking about a simple possession charge,
either. Authorities say Green tried to conceal 39 baggies with several
grams of crack cocaine inside as police raided a home on Charleston Avenue.
Three men, all in their 40s at the time, were charged with possessing or
trafficking cocaine. Two pleaded guilty, and the third was convicted of an
amended felony drug charge. Their cases ended more than a year ago.

At least one other time, I've seen an older drug defendant use her age to
garner leniency from the court system -- only to return to drug dealing
once she gained her freedom.

Annie E. Price, of Hampton, was 65 when police stopped her car in 1997 and
found $3,000 worth of cocaine and $5,000 in cash. Prosecutors used their
option to charge the short, stumpy woman nicknamed "Granny" in federal
court, where she received a 5 1/2 -year sentence behind bars. Prosecutors
took that route, in part, because they feared the circuit court would be
too lenient.

And with good reason. In 1989, Price, then 57, was convicted in Hampton of
cocaine trafficking and gun possession. A Hampton judge suspended all but
11 months of the 22-year prison sentence.

Another local case involving an elderly drug defendant was that of John H.
"Pop" Stephenson. In 1994, at age 72, he got a 40-month federal sentence
following numerous drug searches at his Portsmouth house. Police often
found marijuana during several searches of the longtime drug dealer's home.

I don't know what will happen to Zula Mae Green when she gets to court. If
she's not guilty, fine. But on such a serious charge, she should face
trial, no matter how old she is.