SOMBRE DAY AT COURTHOUSE

Colleagues Struggle To Cope As Deputy Makes Court Appearance On Drug
Charges

A pall hung over the Dartmouth courthouse Tuesday as a sheriff's
deputy who works in the building appeared before a judge on 12 charges
of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking.

"It's a horrible day. There's nothing good about it," said a colleague
of Tyrone Cornell David, 40, who was arrested outside the courthouse
last Friday morning after he allegedly was observed accepting drugs
from a young woman at a nearby strip mall.

Mr. David spent the Thanksgiving weekend in protective custody at the
Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth. He arrived at
provincial court Tuesday morning in the back of a sheriff's van,
wearing leg shackles and handcuffs.

He concealed his face from media cameras with the hood of his jacket
as he got out of the van.

Six hours later, Mr. David's fellow sheriff's deputies led him
upstairs into a courtroom, where the Crown agreed to his release on a
$50,000 recognizance secured by property belonging to his father,
Ronald David of North Preston.

Tyrone David, who's on paid administrative leave from his job pending
the outcome of the charges, sat with his elbows on his knees and his
head bowed as federal Crown attorney Susan Bour read out a list of
conditions attached to his bail.

He must reside at an address on St. Margarets Bay Road in Lakeside,
remain in Nova Scotia at all times and surrender his passport to
Halifax Regional Police.

He can't communicate with anyone who has a criminal record or is
behind bars, and he's prohibited from having any contact with his
co-accused, Kathleen Mary Keirans, girlfriend of well-known crime
figure Jimmy Melvin Jr.

Mr. Melvin is in the Dartmouth jail on drug and weapons
charges.

Mr. David is not to possess or use drugs and can't have weapons, a
cellphone or a pager. He must follow a nightly curfew from 11 p.m. to
6 a.m., unless he's working or dealing with a medical emergency, and
he has to check in with police by telephone once a week.

"Thank you, Your Honour," Mr. David said to Associate Chief Judge
Brian Gibson as he was escorted back to the holding cells until his
paperwork could be processed.

He had nothing to say to reporters as he walked out of the building at
about 4 p.m. and climbed into a waiting car. He returns to court Nov.
25 to enter pleas to the charges.

Mr. David was married just over two weeks ago and was planning to go
on his honeymoon soon. Now he's accused of trying to smuggle drugs
into the provincial jail system.

Police allege they caught him with cocaine, marijuana, hashish,
ecstasy, morphine, Dilaudid, hydromorphone, Valium and
amphetamines.

Ms. Keirans, 22, of Lockview Road in Fall River, is charged with 12
counts of trafficking involving the same drugs. The Crown and defence
couldn't agree Tuesday on conditions for her release, so she was
remanded until a bail hearing Friday.

Associate Chief Judge Gibson said an outside judge will have to be
brought in to deal with Mr. David's case.

Ms. Bour, who regularly prosecutes drug cases at the Dartmouth
courthouse, said it has yet to be determined whether she will be able
to remain on the file.

"That will be discussed fully when I return to the office," she said
outside court.

She admitted the atmosphere in the courtroom Tuesday was
sombre.

"It's a serious matter," she said of the charges against Mr. David. "I
have been in court many times when he's been working as a sheriff."

Sheriff's deputies were under orders not to talk to Mr. David while he
was in their custody.

Mr. David's father told The Chronicle Herald he didn't wish to say
much about his son's legal troubles.

"I have to hear from my son," he said. "There are always two sides to
every story. Everyone is presumed innocent until they're proven guilty."

A police spokeswoman said Friday that officers didn't randomly stumble
across the alleged drug deal.

"This investigation occurred over a series of days," Theresa Rath
said. "We were acting on information that we had received."

Ms. Rath wouldn't reveal what makes police think the drugs were headed
to the provincial jail.

"We can't get into why we think that, but suffice it to say that based
on the evidence that was seized, we believe that the drugs were
destined for transportation into the corrections system. Our
investigation will continue (looking) as to where (the drugs) may have
been destined and to whom."

She said police haven't received information to suggest that any other
sheriff's deputies were involved.

Justice Minister Ross Landry said the department works hard to ensure
no one smuggles drugs to inmates.

"We're dealing with a population that has all day and all night to sit
and contemplate how they get illicit substances into the institution,"
Mr. Landry said Tuesday at Province House.

"In this case, someone was allegedly bringing a substance into the
institution, they have been apprehended, and I believe that, to this
point, that that behaviour's stopped."

Aside from the police investigation, Justice Department officials are
conducting their own probe. Mr. Landry said there's no deadline for
his department's investigation but it will be done in a timely manner.

With David Jackson, provincial reporter