PROSECUTOR SAYS DRUG MONEY TURNED FORMER OFFICER BAD

At some point in his otherwise distinguished career, former Mobile police
officer Rodney Patrick went into business for himself by stealing drug
investigation money that was entrusted to him, a prosecutor told jurors
Friday at the close of testimony in Patrick's weeklong trial.

But Patrick's attorneys, Rick Williams and John Wayne Boone, said their
client was a good cop who followed procedure in paying confidential
informants for information on dealers and giving the informants money to
purchase drugs in order to expose the dealers.

Patrick's narcotics undercover work netted about $500,000 worth of drugs,
money and confiscated property, the defense lawyers said.

Prosecutors, though, contend that the former cop, who in 1999 was named
Mobile police officer of the year, stole a total of $5,910 in police funds
that he signed for, supposedly to make those undercover drug deals and the
subsequent arrests.

He is accused of pocketing $950; $2,000; $1,760; $700; and $500, which
resulted in two first-degree theft and three second-degree theft charges.
The thefts occurred between June 2000 and February 2001, prosecutors said.

Presiding Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Ferrill D. McRae dismissed
jurors Friday after closing arguments and told them to return at 9 a.m.
Monday to begin their deliberations.

The money Patrick is accused of taking was provided by the Mobile County
Street Enforcement Narcotics Team (MCSENT), the Mobile Police Department
and other area law enforcement agencies.

"Rodney Patrick quit working for you and me and went into business for
himself," Nicki Patterson, chief assistant district attorney, said to
jurors Friday afternoon.

Mobile police Lt. Christon Dorsey testified earlier in the trial that
between January 2000 and July 2001, Patrick was given $26,625 to pay
informants and to buy drugs.

Dorsey said Patrick came under suspicion because he had been issued
substantially more money than other MCSENT officers and because of
inaccuracies in the forms he filled out when given money.

Patterson said Friday that Patrick could accurately account for only a
portion of the money he was issued.

Paul Peoples, identified as one of Patrick's confidential informants,
testified Friday that he had known Patrick all his life. He said he had
worked with Patrick on "a whole lot of busts, a whole lot of cases."

When asked by Boone how much Patrick had paid him for information on
certain cases and the dates, Peoples said, "I don't keep no books, so the
information may not be exact."

He said the former cop had given him either $900 or $860 for information
about a powder cocaine bust at a service station on Government Street.

"When you put your life on the line, any amount is not enough," Peoples said.

Peoples said that another time, Patrick gave him $1,000 when he got word
that someone was out to kill Peoples for being a snitch. He said he used
that money to hide out in a local motel.

"When I heard they put a hit out on me, I laid low," the informant said.
Peoples testified that he also used small amounts of money Patrick had
given him to buy drugs and alcohol for his own consumption.

During closing arguments, Rich told the jury that in five cases against
him, Patrick was unable to account for the drugs that he said were
purchased with MCSENT money. Instead, she said, Patrick pocketed the money.

He also was unable to account for some of the money he said was doled out
to his confidential informants, she said.

Boone reminded the jury members that they must believe beyond a reasonable
doubt that the former police officer was guilty of each of the crimes.

If convicted, Patrick could face a long prison term. First-degree theft is
a class B felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison upon conviction.
Second-degree theft is a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years.

Boone told jurors that the errors in the many forms that Patrick had to
fill out to get the money to pay his informants and to buy drugs were
simple mistakes and not proof of any wrongdoing.

"The state of Alabama has not met its burden of proof," Boone told the jury.