JURY BEGINS DELIBERATING DRUG CASE

Man Accused In Cocaine Shipment To Jackson

Starsky Redd was defending his cocaine the night he exchanged gunfire with
narcotics agents and was shot, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday during
closing arguments in Redd's trial.

But Redd's attorney said his client had no idea he was going to meet a
semi-truck loaded down with drugs when he volunteered to give a friend a ride.

Redd is accused of attempting to have 22 pounds of cocaine delivered from
Dallas to Jackson in November 2000.

A federal jury in Jackson deliberated four hours Wednesday without reaching
a verdict. The jury resumes deliberating at 10 a.m. today.

Redd is charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, attempting to
possess cocaine and discharging a firearm during a drug offense.

If convicted, Redd, 23, faces a maximum of life in prison and a $4 million
fine on the drug charges. He also faces a mandatory 10-year sentence on the
firearms charge if convicted.

"We ask you to convict Starsky Redd on all three counts," Assistant U.S.
Attorney Al Jernigan said. "The only reason to meet that truck was to get
drugs off."

Redd testified during the seven-day trial that when his friend Christopher
Jefferson arrived in Jackson from Dallas in November 2000, he was only
giving him a ride to meet a man who owed Jefferson money.

Redd said he did not know the person they were meeting would be in an
18-wheeler filled with 22 pounds of cocaine and 757 pounds of marijuana.
Prosecutors only pursued the cocaine charges because it carried a more
severe penalty than a conviction on marijuana charges.

An FBI agent was tipped off to the drug shipment and called in the
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. The 18-wheeler was commandeered after it
arrived at a truck stop in Clinton. The driver and another individual in
the truck were arrested.

Officers took the drugs off the truck but devised a plan to allow agents to
get on the truck and have the driver continue on his planned route to I-220.

The Ford Expedition driven by Redd, with Jefferson as a passenger, pulled
to the side of the interstate with its emergency lights flashing.
The18-wheeler then followed the Expedition to Redd's rap music recording
studio at West Northside Drive and College Hills Road, authorities said.
That's where the gunfight took place and Redd and Jefferson were arrested.

Jefferson, 29, of Dallas testified he arranged the drug shipment for
another person and that Redd didn't know the drugs were on the truck.

But Jernigan said Jefferson was "Starsky's fall guy."

Redd's attorney, Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, said prosecutors provided no
evidence Redd was part of a drug conspiracy or that he attempted to take
control of any drugs.

"Christopher Jefferson's testimony was believable and supported by
evidence," Lumumba said.

Lumumba made the conduct of Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents an issue
in the trial. He said the agents didn't identify themselves and began
shooting first. He said Redd was defending himself after being shot.

Lumumba also said one of the agents who made the arrest that night was
fired by the bureau and accused of stealing money and having people try to
sell drugs for him.

"The government has a problem with its own case - a lying cop," Lumumba said.

Jernigan acknowledged the problem with the ex-MBN agent. He asked the jury
to look at the little things that add up, such as Jefferson making 22 calls
to Redd leading up to the drug shipment.