HPD OFFICER SAYS DRUG DEALER STARTED GUNFIGHT

A drug dealer started a gunfight with two Houston police officers in
February because one of them wouldn't put a piece of crack cocaine in his
mouth during an undercover buy that turned sour, one of the officers
testified Tuesday.

Officer Ralph Chaison testified that Robert Demond Lavern ordered him to
put the crack in his mouth to prove he wasn't a police officer. When he
didn't comply, the defendant reached for a pistol in his waistband.

"He said, `If you're not the police, put it in your mouth,' " Chaison told
jurors in the first day of Lavern's attempted capital murder trial. "His
last statement was, `You're the law and I'm not afraid of the law.' .. Then
he started raising his jacket."

Chaison and his partner, Officer Vonda Higgins, were working undercover on
Feb 4., according to testimony. Chaison had just bought the rock of crack
for $20 from Lavern outside a West Branch apartment complex. He was walking
away when Lavern made the demand.

Higgins was in a nearby truck and the officers had no back-up because they
were only supposed to make the buys and leave, not make arrests.

Chaison drew his gun first, fired and hit Lavern, according to testimony.
Chaison yelled for Higgins to call for help and scrambled for cover behind
a "small" tree. Lavern sought cover behind a car.

With an iron fence separating them, Chaison and Lavern exchanged shots, the
officer said.

Prosecutor Chuck Rosenthal told jurors in his opening statement that it was
at that point that Higgins bravely tried to draw fire away from her
partner. In doing so, she was struck in the neck by one of Lavern's shots
and the bullet lodged near her spine. Higgins has been paralyzed since then.

Higginsis expected to testify today.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Hale told jurors that they should view her
testimony without emotion and not be swayed by sympathy for her condition.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski