PEPPER SPRAY NOT BLAMED FOR DEATH; SUSPECT HAD COCAINE IN MOUTH

According to the medical examiner, Derek Glenn Poindexter died of "cocaine
poisoning."

When a Roanoke police officer used pepper spray on Derek Glenn Poindexter,
authorities said the officer was trying to keep the man from swallowing
what he thought was cocaine.

The gooey blob spit out by Poindexter after he was hit with the fiery spray
tested positive for cocaine, a medical examiner said Wednesday.

Poindexter, 34, died within an hour after being sprayed early Oct. 24
outside the Roanoke City Jail.

But the pepper spray had nothing to do with the cause of Poindexter's
death, said Dr. William Massello, assistant deputy chief medical examiner
for Western Virginia. The cause is now listed on the autopsy report as
"cocaine poisoning." No other drugs were found in Poindexter's system,
although Massello has said that pepper spray isn't absorbed by the body.

Poindexter had just been arrested on a cocaine possession charge and was on
his way into the jail when an officer noticed him chewing on something.

The officer ordered the handcuffed man to spit out the substance;
Poindexter refused. The officer then sprayed him, causing Poindexter to
expel something on the ground. By officers' accounts, Poindexter then
appeared to have trouble spitting, spit up blood and passed out. He later
died at Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital.

The phlegm, which was tested along with samples of Poindexter's blood for
drugs, tested positive for cocaine, Massello said.

There wasn't any cocaine residue found in Poindexter's stomach during the
autopsy. Massello said it's unknown whether Poindexter's stomach was pumped
at the hospital, which could have erased visible traces of the drug.

Meanwhile, toxicology tests showed a "very high" level of cocaine in
Poindexter's blood, Massello said. The level was so high that Poindexter
had to have ingested the drug within "minutes to an hour, maybe two" before
he died at 1:10 a.m. that Saturday morning.

"You can't give an exact time, like 15 minutes, 20 minutes, but with a
level like that, it had to be fairly recent," Massello said. "It was a
lethal level. Even a healthy, robust person probably wouldn't survive
levels that high."

And Poindexter wasn't a healthy person. His family said, and the autopsy
confirmed, that Poindexter had a serious heart condition. His mother,
Carrie Dulin of Roanoke, said her son also had respiratory problems that
made it difficult for him to swallow or spit, let alone breathe very well.

Dulin has declined to comment about the toxicology's findings. Previously,
she has doubted that Poindexter had drugs in his mouth and instead believed
the pepper spray led to his death.

But Massello said the pepper spray had nothing to do with the cause of
Poindexter's death, which is now listed on the autopsy report as "cocaine
poisoning." No other drugs were found in Poindexter's system, although
Massello has said that pepper spray isn't absorbed by the body.

Massello also said that it's possible that Poindexter ingested cocaine more
than one time before he died.

When Poindexter was arrested at 11:55 p.m., police found crack on the
floorboard of the car he was riding in. The car was stopped at Boulevard
and Patterson Avenue for not having its lights on. Poindexter was charged
with possession of crack cocaine; the female driver, who has not been
identified, was not charged and police have declined to say why.

Despite his heart condition, Poindexter had a history of drug use. In 1995,
he was charged with possession of a controlled substance after being
arrested on a bad check charge in Salem. Although he was convicted of
uttering , the drug charge was not prosecuted when a search of his body was
ruled illegal. But while on probation in August 1996, Poindexter tested
positive for cocaine and marijuana, according to court records.

Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Dan Caldwell has declined to comment on the
toxicology report's findings, confirming only that cocaine was in
Poindexter's system. He said Wednesday he expects to announce the results
of his criminal investigation into the death and the events leading up to
it by early next week.

An internal investigation by the police department found no wrongdoing by
the two officers involved, M.L. Pendleton and R.A. Johnson. Both officers
returned to patrol duty Nov. 18 after three weeks of paid administrative
leave.

Police officials have not said which officer actually sprayed Poindexter.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski