SUSPECT ACCUSED OF MURDER DENIES GIVING FRIEND FATAL HEROIN DOSE

TAMPA - Facing the possibility of life in prison, a Riverview man said
Tuesday that he didn't supply his friend with the heroin that killed
him.

James Rouleau, 20, said he and Ricky Shouse bought the heroin together
in April 1999. Rouleau and Shouse, who were friends and co-workers,
snorted the drug with Shouse's younger sister.

Ricky Shouse, 22, died hours later in his Valrico trailer. Prosecutors
say Rouleau bought heroin from Brandon teenager Kevin Sosa and
distributed it to others, including Shouse. But on the witness stand
Tuesday, Rouleau rejected the notion that he was a drug
distributor.

``I was just a junkie,'' he said. ``I went and got high with my
friend. He did it of his own free will. I've got to fight for my life
over something I had no control over.''

Rouleau is on trial for first-degree murder. He was charged under a
little-used law that allows the state to prosecute individuals who
distribute drugs to people who then suffer fatal overdoses.
Prosecutors said they were using the law to try to stem a sharp rise
in heroin overdoses.

After a day and a half of testimony, a Hillsborough County jury
deliberated for 3 1/2 hours Tuesday without reaching a verdict. At one
point, the panel asked the judge to clarify the definition of
manslaughter, one of the lesser charges it can consider against Rouleau.

The jury resumes deliberating today.

Sosa wasn't charged with murder in Shouse's death because the state
law on overdose deaths applies only to those 18 or older. Sosa was 17
and was charged with possession and delivery of heroin.