PLAYER INNOCENT OF DRUG CHARGES

Former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Pedro Guerrero was acquitted
on drug conspiracy charges Tuesday in part because jurors believed
federal agents took advantage of his low IQ to manipulate and mislead
him.

The four-time National League All-Star discussed a $200,000 cocaine
deal in two separate tape-recorded conversations, agreed to it with an
undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and confessed
following his arrest, according to testimony at the four-day trial.

But after five hours of deliberations, jurors agreed with defense
contentions that Guerrero was misled.

Defense attorney Milton Hirsch called Guerrero a ``simpleton, an
11-year-old mind in a grown man's suit'' who is easily manipulated
because of his IQ in the low 70s.

``After the trial, Pedro told me I'm the greatest lawyer in the world,
and I told him he's the greatest dodger,'' Hirsch said. Asked if
dodger should be capitalized, Hirsch said: ``I'll leave that up to
you.''

The acquittal left prosecutors stunned and wondering whether its
possible to convict a high-profile athlete in South Florida.

In August, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tony Martin was acquitted on
money-laundering charges. In 1997, a Broward manslaughter conviction
against Seattle Seahawks receiver Brian Blades was thrown out for lack
of evidence.

``I know people are going to start saying that Pedro is the
beneficiary of the O.J. Simpson syndrome -- that nobody wants to
believe ill of a sports hero,'' Hirsch said. ``All I can say about
this one is that justice was done.''

A group of jurors interviewed after the verdict said they didn't trust
the DEA informants who at times were left unsupervised in the case.
They said there were key mistakes in the Spanish-to-English
translations of the taped conversations. And, they said, Guerrero's IQ
allowed him to be easily manipulated by the informants and the DEA.

``He was being used,'' one juror said. ``He's a human being, and they
should do a lot better job gathering evidence before they start
playing with people's lives.''

Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Killinger -- a high-profile prosecutor
known for his convictions in the Miami River cops case and others --
told jurors during his closing arguments that ``stupidity '' is no
defense.

``Nobody in law enforcement targeted Pedro Guerrero,'' he
said.

``The only reason he is here is because of what he chose to
do.''

Guerrero, 43 -- who retired in 1992 with the St. Louis Cardinals and a
.300 lifetime batting average -- was arrested at his West Miami-Dade
home on Sept. 30 on charges he was involved in a conspiracy to
distribute 15 kilograms of cocaine.

The arrest followed two secretly recorded telephone conversations with
DEA informants in which Guerrero agreed to the deal. Jurors also
acquitted his co-defendant Lary Mercedes.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks, who considered excluding
expert testimony about Guerrero's intelligence quotient, told both
defendants on Tuesday ``you're free to go.''

Guerrero, a native of the Dominican Republic who was facing at least
10 years in prison, screamed a thank you to jurors.

``I just want to thank the Lord,'' Guerrero said afterward. ``That's
all I can say. He was at our side when we needed Him, and He always
will be.''