News (Media Awareness Project) - US FL: Prosecutor Wants To Know If Other Drug Cases Tainted By |
| Title: | US FL: Prosecutor Wants To Know If Other Drug Cases Tainted By |
| Published On: | 2000-01-06 |
| Source: | Naples Daily News (FL) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-05 07:18:12 |
PROSECUTOR WANTS TO KNOW IF OTHER DRUG CASES TAINTED BY TROOPER'S REVELATION
BARTOW - A prosecutor who freed a cocaine suspect after learning that
Florida Highway Patrol trooper misled a judge has launched a probe to
determine if other cases might be tainted.
Polk County Assistant State Attorney Brad Copley subpoenaed Trooper
Douglas Strickland Dec. 23 to appear in the State Attorney's office in
Bartow Tuesday for questioning about "ruse stops." That meeting was
postponed until Thursday.
"We simply want to see if there are any cases similar to the one about
which the trooper testified that were prosecuted in this circuit,"
said Assistant State Attorney Chip Thullbery, another prosecutor.
Thullbery would not comment on the scope of the investigation,
including on how many cases might be at issue.
The case began in May 1998, after Strickland and another trooper
arrested Michael Flynn on Interstate 4 near Lakeland. Norman Dupont
and Dewey Davis also were charged in the same case.
During trial, Strickland admitted that troopers routinely falsified
information on sworn arrest affidavits to protect FBI informants and
to keep suspects from knowing they were targets of federal
investigations.
Copley and other prosecutors, angry that they had been lied to, threw
out the charges against Flynn, Dupont and Davis.
But federal prosecutors later re-filed the charges in federal court.
Early last month, Strickland again testified about making ruse stops
in which a trooper pulls over suspected criminals, fully knowing that
a car loaded with drugs has been tampered with by FBI or DEA agents.
Federal involvement then is not mentioned in any ensuing arrest
report.
Lawyers for the three defendants said there could be hundreds of
wrongly convicted people in prison as a result of the practice. U.S.
Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins has said the charges can stand, but
could reconsider her decision.
Copley says he now is concerned Strickland's testimony could have on
past drug convictions and future prosecutions in his jurisdiction.
BARTOW - A prosecutor who freed a cocaine suspect after learning that
Florida Highway Patrol trooper misled a judge has launched a probe to
determine if other cases might be tainted.
Polk County Assistant State Attorney Brad Copley subpoenaed Trooper
Douglas Strickland Dec. 23 to appear in the State Attorney's office in
Bartow Tuesday for questioning about "ruse stops." That meeting was
postponed until Thursday.
"We simply want to see if there are any cases similar to the one about
which the trooper testified that were prosecuted in this circuit,"
said Assistant State Attorney Chip Thullbery, another prosecutor.
Thullbery would not comment on the scope of the investigation,
including on how many cases might be at issue.
The case began in May 1998, after Strickland and another trooper
arrested Michael Flynn on Interstate 4 near Lakeland. Norman Dupont
and Dewey Davis also were charged in the same case.
During trial, Strickland admitted that troopers routinely falsified
information on sworn arrest affidavits to protect FBI informants and
to keep suspects from knowing they were targets of federal
investigations.
Copley and other prosecutors, angry that they had been lied to, threw
out the charges against Flynn, Dupont and Davis.
But federal prosecutors later re-filed the charges in federal court.
Early last month, Strickland again testified about making ruse stops
in which a trooper pulls over suspected criminals, fully knowing that
a car loaded with drugs has been tampered with by FBI or DEA agents.
Federal involvement then is not mentioned in any ensuing arrest
report.
Lawyers for the three defendants said there could be hundreds of
wrongly convicted people in prison as a result of the practice. U.S.
Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins has said the charges can stand, but
could reconsider her decision.
Copley says he now is concerned Strickland's testimony could have on
past drug convictions and future prosecutions in his jurisdiction.
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