SELLER OF URINE KITS TESTIFIES HE KNEW BUYER WAS UNDERCOVER AGENT

The man accused of selling urine kits to defraud drug tests took the stand
Thursday and said he knew undercover law enforcement agents were buying
from him in an attempt to make an arrest.

Kenneth Curtis, owner of Privacy Protection Services, maintains he is
fighting the whole urinalysis system by showing it can be faked.

This is the first time the state law that passed in 1999 is being heard in
criminal court.

During the second day of testimony in Circuit Court in Greenville, many
jurors openly laughed and giggled as the prosecution and defense battled
over the fate of Curtis, who faces a maximum of eight years in prison if
convicted.

The day in court included the playing of a song about refusing to urinate
in a jar and the judge ordering the prosecution and the witness to use less
graphic words when referring to urine.

It is legal to sell urine in South Carolina, but not for the purpose of
defrauding a drug test. Curtis was arrested in April after the State Law
Enforcement Division bought at least three urine kits from him.

Curtis reiterated on the stand he believes urinalysis testing is
humiliating and his aim since he started his urine kits is to find a better
way for the system to work.

"I am a lightning rod," he said on the stand, gesturing his hands skyward.
"Here I am."

The Marrietta man also said he knew SLED agents and other law enforcement
were buying from him because they were the only South Carolina clients, the
address given by the SLED agent was within a third of a mile from the
agency's Columbia office, and the agent's alias did not appear in a
Columbia phone book.

The defense also called his web master, who testified about the operation
that sells nationwide, and Curtis' stepmother, who testified Curtis had
never sold urine to circumvent the drug testing done in the workplace.

The final testimony is expected to begin at 9 a.m. today in circuit court
at the Greenville County Courthouse and the jury is expected to then get
the case.

In the past, Curtis gained attention by going to the Greenville County Law
Enforcement Center in 1999 to sell urine kits in order to be arrested under
the law. He was not arrested.

Curtis and his attorney, Robert Childs, surmised there was no way Curtis'
company sold the urine kits to defraud a drug test because he knew only
agents were buying them in the state.

Assistant Solicitor Mindy Hervey questioned the validity of Curtis' claims.

"When did you learn you were selling to a SLED agent?" she asked.

"Which one?" Curtis responded.

"Anyone," Hervey shot back.

"Shortly after the first sale," he answered.

Hervey and Childs battled for most of the day over the admissibility of
evidence such as videos of Curtis on national television, Curtis being an
expert on urinalysis and changes to his company's website.