JUDGE WON'T CHANGE DRUG TRIAL DECISION

TAMPA - A federal magistrate refused Wednesday to reconsider her
decision allowing federal prosecutors to try three defendants in a
controversial cocaine case.

U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Jenkins said the defense presented no new
legal argument or facts.

Michael Leonard Flynn, Norman Dupont and Dewey Davis had argued that
the charges against them should be dismissed because a Florida Highway
Patrol trooper misled a state judge about the circumstances that led
to the arrests.

Trooper Douglas Strickland filed an arrest report that gave the
impression he stumbled upon 220 pounds of cocaine after he stopped to
help Flynn, 40, of Orlando, whose car had stalled on Interstate 4. In
fact, Strickland disclosed later, he was working with the FBI in a
reverse sting, knew ahead of time there was cocaine in the trunk, and
pulled alongside Flynn after federal agents used a remote device to
kill the car's engine.

Jenkins previously called the law enforcement conduct
``reprehensible'' but said the defendants could not show they were
prejudiced by the false report.