OFFICER 'HIGH ON COCAINE' BEFORE LEVI SHOOTING

Former police officer Rodney Podesta was high on cocaine and in
uniform the night before he shot Frenchman Roni Levi on Bondi Beach,
the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.

A former girlfriend of Podesta, whose identity has been suppressed,
told the commission Podesta was in the habit of using large amounts of
cocaine at the time of the shooting.

The witness, known only as SA2, claimed that when she and Podesta were
dating in early 1997, he would boast about using drugs he had
confiscated during police raids on the Saturday night shift.

"He told me how he enjoyed doing that shift because he would do drug
busts at house parties," she said.

Podesta would sometimes "go straight to work from being out all
night", she said. "I was with him at his home and he would shower,
change into his uniform and go."

SA2 said Podesta would sometimes use up to 5g of cocaine at a time and
on one occasion produced a sandwich bag, about 3cm thick, filled with
the illegal drug.

He sometimes supplied other people with cocaine for which he was paid
cash, she said. The witness also identified Anthony Dilorenzo, the
other officer involved in the shooting, as a cocaine user.

She said she used to refer to Podesta and Dilorenzo as "The Awesome
Twosome" because "they were always together" and "they liked to party
a lot".

The commission is investigating whether the pair was affected by drugs
or alcohol when they shot Mr Levi on the morning of June 28, 1997.

Under questioning from counsel assisting the commissioner Peter
Johnson SC, SA2 said Podesta had visited her Bondi home at about 10pm
on the night before the shooting, wearing his uniform.

Johnson: "Did you note anything about his appearance at that time?"

Witness: "He was high on cocaine."

Johnson: "How could you tell that?" Witness: "He looked very agitated, he
couldn't sit still".

SA2 said she had telephoned Podesta a few days after the shooting. "He
sounded very distraught and said he had done something very bad," she
said.

Under cross-examination from Podesta's solicitor, Ken Madden, SA2
denied having told "lie after lie after lie" during her evidence.

Madden: "I suggest to you, you went out to dinner on one occasion, you went
home, you spent the night together, and that was it, correct?"

Witness: "No."

Madden: "You then went around telling people that Mr Podesta and yourself
were going out together . . . and he told you . . . that he was not
interested in continuing the relationship with you."

Witness: "No."

The hearing continues.