OBLANDER: I DIDN'T TELL SHERIFF FORMER DEPUTY TESTIFIES IN MENELEY'S PERJURY
HEARING.

A soft-spoken Timothy P. Oblander testified Wednesday he never told Sheriff
Dave Meneley about his cocaine addiction and his thefts of cocaine.

Oblander, a former sheriff's narcotics officer, also testified he didn't
mention his drug use to Meneley during a meeting in mid-1995 as Oblander was
about to finish a stint in a drug rehabilitation center because he assumed
the sheriff knew of his drug problem.

In three and a half hours of testimony, Oblander admitted stealing cocaine
from a drug investigator's office at the Shawnee County Sheriff's Department
in July 1994 that launched a months-long Kansas Bureau of Investigation
probe and mushroomed into the sheriff's department drug scandal.

Oblander's testimony Wednesday came during the preliminary hearing of
Meneley, who is charged with two counts of felony perjury stemming from his
sworn testimony in 1999. On those occasions, Meneley is charged with saying
in February and March 1999 that he didn't know Oblander used illegal drugs
while a deputy.

On Tuesday, two deputies testified that during a July 1995 meeting, Meneley
told them Oblander was the officer responsible for taking the drug evidence
stored in a sheriff's evidence facility from a 1994 federal drug case. They
also said Meneley told them Oblander had a cocaine addiction, had used drugs
purchased through his narcotics investigation work and was undergoing
treatment at a rehabilitation center.

Oblander, who resigned as a corporal Feb. 26, 1999, entered into a diversion
agreement with the district attorney's office. In part, he agreed to testify
against Meneley and Sgt. Frank Good, who also is charged with two counts of
perjury, in exchange for dismissal of six counts of perjury and one count of
official misconduct. The deal also calls for federal authorities not to
prosecute Oblander for possession of cocaine.

Oblander said after he had invoked his Fifth Amendment right against
incriminating himself when he was sworn in on the witness stand during a
Nov. 23, 1998, drug case, he wasn't fired when he returned to the sheriff's
department. He also said neither Meneley nor any of the sheriff's department
hierarchy quizzed the uniformed Oblander about why he declined to testify in
Shawnee County District Court. Charges against the defendant in that case
were dismissed because Oblander didn't testify.

The Meneley preliminary hearing is to resume Jan. 27.

Late Wednesday during the hearing, District Attorney Joan Hamilton issued a
subpoena to require District Judge Eric Rosen to testify. After a six-day
evidentiary hearing in 1999 linked to drug charges against Carlos Hernandez,
Rosen ruled that drug evidence in the sheriff's department was contaminated
during a three-year period and there was corruption in the department and
then dismissed the Hernandez drug charges.

It isn't known whether Rosen will testify, seek to quash the subpoena or
meet with prosecution and defense attorneys to determine whether a statement
agreeable to both sides can be hammered out.

In other testimony, Sgt. Scott Baker denied talking to Meneley, Good or
anyone else at the sheriff's department about Oblander's drug addiction
before Oblander admitted it March 1, 1999.

On Tuesday, Deputy Phil Blume testified Baker had been told by Meneley about
Oblander's drug use.

Blume also testified Meneley told him and Detective Daniel Jaramillo that
the sheriff had discussed Oblander's drug use with Baker, and Baker was
"upset" because he formerly was Oblander's partner.