FATHER GUILTY IN DRUG TRIAL JURY SENTENCES MAN TO 60 YEARS IN PRISON

NEW BRAUNFELS -- In a precedent-setting verdict, Comal County jurors
decided Wednesday that cocaine is a deadly weapon when they convicted
Johnny Rodriguez of giving it to his teen-age daughter.

Jurors returned the verdict in less than an hour and later sentenced
Rodriguez to 60 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

After the jury's verdict was announced, Rodriguez's sister, Margaret
Cabell, sent the daughter sobbing from the courtroom.

"I hope you are happy ... sending your father to prison," Cabell
called after her.

The 15-year-old daughter testified her father gave her cocaine when
she was 14. That testimony was key to the case.

It marked the first time Texas prosecutors have sought a finding that
cocaine is a deadly weapon - a decision they expect to be appealed. If
it's upheld, the case could mean enhanced penalties in other drug trials.

Use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a crime carries stiffer
penalties in Texas.

Rodriguez, 43. Was convicted of delivering a controlled substance to a
minor

During his closing argument, Comal County District Attorney Dib
Waldrip told jurors: "We have an opportunity today to close a loophole
in the law and at the same time close the manhole cover on the sewer
of society."

Waldrip said that to find cocaine was a deadly weapon in this case,
jurors only had to agree that the drug "in the manner of its use is
capable of causing death or serious bodily injury."

In her testimony, the daughter said her father gave her cocaine 20 to
30 times between January and September 1998.

"I felt secure because I was around him, and he was my dad, so I did
it," she said. "At first I liked it, because my dad gave it to me."

She appeared to carefully avoid making eye contact with her father
during her testimony. She stayed calm almost the entire time, only
choking a couple times, especially when she told the jury she still
loves her father.

Waldrip told jurors that for them to find that Rodriguez used a deadly
weapon, the law doesn't require that he intended to hurt his daughter
or that she was harmed.

"Whether you use cocaine one time or 10 times or 30 times, you don't
know what's going to happen the next time because you don't know the
dose you are getting," he said.

But defense lawyer Brent Free painted Rodriguez's daughter as a liar
who used drugs, was suspended from school, and was kicked out of a
drug rehabilitation center.

Free said the girl made up the story at the prompting of Rodriguez's
ex-wife, the girl's mother, to get back at him for not paying back
child support.

Free also said common sense would lead to the conclusion that cocaine
wasn't a deadly weapon.

"The mere delivery of a controlled substance is not the use of a
deadly weapon." he argued.

By ruling that a deadly weapon was used, the jury ensured that
Rodriguez will serve at least half his sentence -- or 30 years,
whichever is less -- before being eligible for parole.

Without that finding, he would have to serve one-quarter of his
sentence, and possibly less if he received credit for good behavior
while in prison.

"We were hoping he would (have to serve) at least 30 years if we gave
him 60," said a juror who didn't want to be identified. "I think that
our verdict was fair and just."