ACCUSED OF PERJURY, POLICE EXPERT RESIGNS

One of the D.C. police department's top narcotics experts resigned suddenly
this week amid allegations that he has lied under oath about his credentials.

Johnny St. Valentine Brown Jr. has offered his expertise in thousands of
cases over the past 20 years, helping prosecutors win drug convictions.
Among other things, he has testified that he has a doctorate in
pharmacology from Howard University, a contention that suggests he has a
special knowledge about the chemical makeup and workings of drugs. But
Howard officials say they have no records that Brown even attended the school.

Barring the possibility of an unfortunate mix-up, Brown's days as a witness
appear to be over. Police officials put Brown on administrative leave last
week and were contemplating further action when he submitted his
resignation Wednesday. The U.S. attorney's office has begun its own
investigation.

If it turns out that Brown has committed perjury, defense lawyers said they
could challenge convictions in cases in which prosecutors used him as a key
witness.

"They were very proud of him and his credentials and the way he carried
himself," said defense lawyer Bernard S. Grimm, a partner in the firm of
Grimm, Petras & Wieser. "He was used and reused for the bigger cases, which
now presents a real problem for them. It's going to have a domino effect."

Brown did not return telephone messages left at two recent addresses.

A charismatic speaker, Brown's testimony often made a big difference in
court, Grimm and others said. He expressed opinions, for example, about
whether defendants were carrying drugs for sale or personal use. The
distinction can tilt juries to convict on drug distribution charges,
whichcarry much longer prison terms than possession charges.

Brown, 56, who uses the nickname Jehru, was respected by area judges and
opposing lawyers because he so clearly could describe the drug trade--from
the slang used on the streets to the techniques used to package crack
cocaine for resale. He formally retired as a detective in 1995 but was
rehired by the department three days later on a contract basis. The
arrangement enabled Brown to draw a $46,700 annual salary on top of his
$65,000 police pension.

On the witness stand, Brown typically would begin his testimony by reciting
details about his background, including his schooling. That, in turn, led
judges to designate him as an expert witness.

No one is questioning Brown's law enforcement skills.

And no one apparently questioned his educational background, either, until
lawyers in a pending civil lawsuit decided to verify whether he had a
doctoral degree.

Brown was to be the expert witness for the District government in a lawsuit
brought by the mother of Eric Butera, a police informant who was slain
while trying to help homicide detectives solve the 1997 triple slayings at
a Starbucks coffee shop in Northwest Washington. Government attorneys
intended to use Brown to explain how police use informants and to describe
the department's policies.

Butera's mother, Terry, filed a $115 million civil suit alleging that
police failed to warn her son about the risks of working as an informant
and then failed to protect him. The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 5 in
U.S. District Court. Brown was to testify that proper procedures were
followed.

At a June 22 pretrial deposition, Peter Grenier, an attorney for the Butera
family, asked Brown to state his highest level of education attained and
when he reached it.

"Well," Brown replied, "my highest level of education would be a doctorate,
1972, in the field of pharmacology, Howard University."

"So you have a PhD in pharmacology?" Grenier asked.

"That's correct," Brown said, adding that he also had attained bachelor's
and master's degrees in the same subject from the school.

After the deposition, Grenier contacted Howard.

In a June 30 letter, officials reported they couldn't find any records on
Brown.

Grenier then accused the 28-year police veteran of perjury, filing court
papers asking that he be disqualified as a government witness.

Attorneys for the District said Brown told them he would provide proof that
he had the degrees. So far, Brown has come up with no documentation,
lawenforcement sources said.

Officials at Howard University said yesterday that they searched for
Brown's records using his name and Social Security number and found nothing.

U.S. District Judge June L. Green has ruled Brown cannot testify as an
expert in the Butera case.

At a hearing yesterday, Assistant Corporation Counsel Thomas L. Koger
described the events as "a very serious problem and embarrassment."