JURY FINDS DRUG DEALER GUILTY OF ASSAULT THAT PARALYZED HOUSTON POLICE OFFICER

A drug dealer who wounded and partially paralyzed an undercover Houston
police officer during a 1998 gunfight was convicted Friday of aggravated
assault on a public servant.

Jurors in the case of Robert Demond Lavern, 18, deliberated for 40 minutes
Thursday and about four hours Friday before reaching a verdict. Prosecutors
had sought a conviction on attempted capital murder.

The assault charge is still a first-degree felony, which could get Lavern as
much as life in prison for the Feb. 4, 1998, exchange that paralyzed Officer
Vonda Higgins.

Lavern was convicted in December of aggravated assault on a public servant
for firing at Higgins' partner, Ralph Chaison, during the same gunfight.
Sentenced to 24 years in prison on that charge, he will be eligible for
parole in 12 years.

That sentence was the reason prosecutors pursued the second charge against
Lavern, whose new sentence could be "stacked" on the old one by state
District Judge Elsa Alcala.

The gunfight occurred outside a West Branch apartment complex. Chaison and
Higgins, both working undercover, were buying drugs from dealers in the area.

When Chaison refused Lavern's order to put a crack cocaine rock in his mouth
to prove he wasn't "the law," Lavern pulled a pistol.

Chaison drew and fired, wounding Lavern, who scrambled for cover. As Higgins
got out of the truck to help her partner, she was shot in the neck. The
round lodged near her spine. She now has only limited movement in her upper
body.

After the conviction, prosecutors started telling jurors about Lavern's
criminal record, including several minor drug and gang-related run-ins with
police as a juvenile.

Testimony continues Monday, and both sides are expected to make closing
arguments.