INFORMANT INQUIRY BY BAR CLEARS PROSECUTOR

The Florida Bar closed out an inquiry into one of the county's
highest-ranking drug prosecutors Monday, ruling that Assistant State
Attorney Eric Myers is not to blame for a blunder involving the credibility
of a controversial drug informant.

In a letter to Myers' lawyer, Bar attorney Brett Geer said he is "satisfied
that no clear and convincing evidence" exists that the fault rests with
Myers.

The Bar began its inquiry last month in response to news reports about the
failure of the state attorney's office to notify defense attorneys that the
informant, Andrew Chambers, had committed perjury in past trials.

Chambers, who worked primarily for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration,
has been called the "most active" informant in DEA history. For 15 years, he
gathered evidence against more than 400 drug suspects. The DEA has paid him
more than $2.2 million for his work, and some have estimated that local law
enforcement agencies have paid him at least that much again.

But Chambers has a credibility problem. At least twice while testifying, he
told jurors he had never been in trouble. In fact, Chambers has been
arrested more than six times. Many of the charges eventually were dropped.
But in 1995 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of soliciting a
prostitute.

The issue landed at the feet of Hillsborough County prosecutors in November
when the DEA notified assistant state attorneys in three cases that
questions had arisen about Chambers. But prosecutors did not pass this
information to defense attorneys.

"In each case," the Bar said Monday, "the letter should have been timely
disclosed to the respective defendants but was not."

When questioned in February, the state attorney's office initially denied
receiving the DEA's letters. A day later, Myers, chief of the office's
narcotics division, said the letters had been received after all, but the
prosecutors to whom they were sent had failed to consult with him.

Myers subsequently dropped charges against eight defendants.

Although defense attorneys applauded the dismissals, the Bar remained
concerned about "whether Myers' supervision of the subordinate attorneys was
deficient to the extent that it might implicate the Rules of Professional
Conduct," which govern all lawyers licensed by the state.

Geer said he still has questions about what happened.

"It remains a mystery why and how such multiple correspondences could arrive
at the State Attorney's Office, and thereafter find, their way into the
correct respective case files, absent the awareness or acknowledgment of the
attorneys responsible for those files," he wrote.

Geer told The Tampa Tribune that his office is still considering whether to
look into the conduct of the prosecutors who actually received the letters.

State Attorney Harry Lee Coe said Monday that he "never had a doubt" Myers
would be cleared.

Myers could not be reached, but his attorney, Rick Terrana, said: "You can't
just assume that because he supervised 14 people, that if any one of those
people dropped the ball, he was involved. Mr. Myers is one of the most
honest, ethical and straight-shooting prosecutors around."

Terrana criticized the media for its coverage, saying it could jeopardize
Myers' career. The longtime prosecutor is among four finalists for a
Hillsborough county judgeship.

No appointment had been made by Monday.