MISTRIAL DECLARED IN DISPUTED SCHOOL DRUG STING

SACRAMENTO -- A mistrial has been declared in the case of a man nabbed
in an undercover drug sting at Galt High School last year.

Nicholas Norbert Nottoli was one of 33 people arrested last year
during an operation involving undercover informant Cherokee Miranda.

Judge Richard H. Gilmour granted the mistrial after Nottoli's defense
attorney, Linda Parisi, argued that a closed-door hearing should be
held dealing with Miranda's personnel file and possible complaints
about her police work.

The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23. A retrial is scheduled for Feb.
28.

For more than 18 months, Miranda, 23, posed as a troubled teenager
looking for drugs during stings in Galt, Susanville and Yreka. Nearly
100 adults and juveniles were arrested.

Though most of the cases have ended in guilty or no contest pleas,
Miranda was not a full-fledged police officer at the time, which has
raised questions about the legality of her arrests.

Miranda, who is now a sworn officer with the Galt police, denies doing
anything wrong or illegal.

Nottoli is accused of selling one gram of crack cocaine to Miranda for
$20 in May after Miranda and three Galt High School students went to
his house. His case is one of three pending in Sacramento arising from
the Galt sting.