FORMER COUNTY EMPLOYEE GUILTY OF OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

ASHEVILLE - A former county employee and prior convicted felon who
handled probation cases was found guilty Wednesday for two counts of
obstruction of justice after she altered results of a drug urinalysis.

Asheville resident Mable Green, 44, is scheduled to be sentenced this
afternoon. The felony convictions carry up to a 30-month prison term.

Green was a case manager for the Day Reporting Center in October 2000.
The center works closely with people on probation, offering them
evaluation and treatment for substance abuse, educational
opportunities, employment counseling and other services.

On Oct. 27, Green gave a drug test to a probationer. According to
testimony, the woman became upset because she had recently taken
drugs. She tested positive. But Green changed the result to negative
and later told the woman's probation officer that the result was negative.

The change was discovered after the probationer told officials that
Green falsely reported the document.

Calvin Hill, Green's attorney, told jurors during closing arguments on
Tuesday that Green changed the woman's drug-test result to calm her
down.

She's screaming, 'I'm going to jail, I'm going to jail, I'm going to
jail,'" Hill said. He later added, "Should Ms. Green have handled it
another way? Sure she should have. She was not trained to handle the
situation."

Jurors were not permitted to hear about Green's prior conviction
record, which includes two felony counts of obtaining property by
false pretenses. She also has several misdemeanor convictions for
obtaining prescription drugs by forgery as well as a federal court
conviction in 1987 for altering money orders.

Mike Bradley, interim director of the Day Reporting Center, declined
to comment on why Green, a convicted felon, was allowed to handle
cases for probationers.

The case has implications beyond Green, said Assistant District
Attorney Dennis Martin during closing arguments. He told jurors that,
on paper, the U.S. criminal justice system exceeds that of any other
country.

"Why is this case so important? Because it's your criminal justice
system," Martin said to jurors. "It's not the system that goes wrong.
It's the people in the system."