JUDGE TOSSES 'RIDICULOUS' DRUG CASE

An incensed Campbell County judge on Thursday threw out a felony case
against a man accused of getting two dentists to prescribe painkillers for
him, saying the detective who filed the charge must have bigger fish to fry.

District Judge D. Michael ''Mickey'' Foellger also criticized the Northern
Kentucky Drug Strike Force detective for using valuable time to question the
dentists who gave Kelly Snow, 28, of Covington, prescriptions for pain
medication when he complained of a toothache.

''I really hope that the narcotics unit of Northern Kentucky has got better
things to do than start snooping around the people who go to the dentist
twice,'' Foellger said during a hearing on the case.

''Sure, it's wrong. (The defendant) had a few extra pain pills. He's in
pain. He's got a bad record.

''But I swear, we've got to have better things to do with taxpayers' money.
We're trying to get drugs off the street, and we're going around
interviewing dentists.''

With that, Foellger abruptly left the bench, saying he was taking a short
break and instructing the prosecutor to ''Give me a real case'' when court
resumed.

Campbell County Coordinator Howard ''Mac'' McMillan, who is board chairman
of the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, declined comment on Judge
Foellger's blistering attack.

McMillan also declined to discuss the accomplishments of the strike force,
which was established in 1983 to allow police agencies in Campbell, Kenton
and Boone counties to pool information and resources to deter drug crimes in
the area.

The strike force long has struggled with funding, membership and personnel
issues.

One executive director resigned in 1998 and another earlier this year.

McMillan said the board has not found a replacement.

The task force was conceived as way to coordinate the drug-fighting efforts
in Northern Kentucky's three most populous counties.

Participation isn't binding, and right now only the county police
departments and none of the city departments are members.

The strike force detective who testified during Thursday's hearing in
Campbell District Court is an officer with Boone County.

Detective Paula Redman said she began investigating Snow at the request of
officials with the Kenton County Jail.

The jailers told her that they'd given Snow, an inmate serving a sentence
for possession of cocaine, permission to see a dentist at University
Hospital in Cincinnati on July 18, Ms. Redman said.

The dentist at UC gave Snow a prescription for painkillers, she said, but
Snow got a second prescription for painkillers the following day, July 19,
from a Fort Thomas dentist who also pulled a tooth.

Snow was allowed out of the Kenton County Jail to work. But, Ms. Redman
said, the jailers had not given Snow permission to see the second dentist.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Dennis Alerding of Covington,
Ms. Redman conceded that Snow gave jailers the second batch of pills - just
as he had given them the first - in obedience with jail rules requiring
jailers to dispense medicine.

''He didn't hide these or sell them or anything, did he?'' Alerding asked.

Ms. Redman responded: ''The issue here is the fact that he withheld the fact
from (the Fort Thomas dentist) that the previous day he had gotten a
prescription for (painkillers) and had it filled.''

When Alerding asked her whether a patient is obliged to give that
information to a dentist who doesn't ask, prosecutor Bob Monfort, an
assistant commonwealth attorney, objected, saying that was an issue for the
judge.

That's when Foellger jumped in, saying, ''This is a ridiculous case. It's
dismissed.''

The charge that had been filed against Snow - obtaining a controlled
substance by withholding information from a practitioner - is punishable by
up to five years in state prison.

Snow's criminal record, which dates back to 1992 in Kenton and Grant
counties, includes convictions for possession of marijuana, menacing,
shoplifting and traffic violations.