CASTO ATTORNEY RIPS ACTIONS BY POLICE IN MARIJUANA CASE

PULLMAN - The war of words over Washington State basketball player
DeAngelo Casto's misdemeanor marijuana citation escalated Thursday,
with Pullman police Chief Gary Jenkins releasing more information
concerning the incident at Casto's residence and Casto's attorney
firing back.

Jenkins confirmed that the police report of the incident indicates
Casto was holding a child on his lap when a police officer looked
through a window early Tuesday morning and observed Casto at a table
with marijuana and rolling papers.

The detail didn't sit well with Casto's attorney, Timothy Esser, who
already has submitted a motion to suppress evidence collected that
night.

"Allegedly there was marijuana in the house," Esser said in a phone
interview. "OK, how many millions of houses have marijuana in them,
how many millions of houses do children live there?

"I think trying to link that and making something more out of it is
really a cheap shot."

Later Esser called back to reiterate his disappointment in Jenkins'
comments, adding he wanted to make one statement concerning the
allegations of a child on Casto's lap. "So what," he said.

Jenkins said the police officer was on a foot patrol because of a
"rash of burglaries in the north part of our city" and that he noticed
a light on in Casto's residence and a missing screen.

"He saw that there was lights on and it was obvious people were up, it
was late at night," Jenkins said. "His intention at that time was to
contact the resident there to determine if they were a burglary victim
that night."

Instead, according to Jenkins, he observed Casto with the
marijuana.

It was the nature of that observation that disturbs
Esser.

"Before you start blaming people for criminal conduct, you can expect
that the police are required to follow the law," Esser said.

"I've been out there. I can't imagine how the officer saw anything he
claims he saw unless he was trespassing."

Jenkins said the officer went to the door, Casto answered without the
child, and was asked to bring the marijuana to the officer. Casto complied.

It's that action, Esser said Wednesday, that violated Washington state
law and that was included in his motion to suppress the evidence.
Washington law requires police officers, when conducting "knock and
talks," to inform the resident that they have the right to refuse consent.

Asked if there were other people in the residence at the time, Jenkins
said he was unaware of any.

"That I am not positive about," he said. "I haven't talked to the
officer specifically about that, but other than DeAngelo and the
child, there is no one else that is described in the police report,
anyway, as being inside. But I couldn't say for certain that there was
no one else inside."

According to Esser, the child's mother was also there.

Jenkins said the officer did not feel the child was in immediate
danger, so there was no reason to remove the boy from the premises.
However, Child Protective Services was notified, he said, adding his
department would "leave it to them to determine if they want to
conduct their own investigation into the welfare of the child."

Washington State athletic director Bill Moos said Thursday afternoon
he was aware of many of the aspects of the interaction between Casto
and the Pullman police officer when he decided to lift Casto's
basketball suspension Wednesday, including the information there was a
child in the residence.

But the level of detail had not been shared, though he, Jenkins and
their staff members had met Tuesday in a previously scheduled
gathering aimed at improving the relationship between the
departments.

"In the conversation there was a reference to DeAngelo's child being
in his apartment," Moos said, "which makes sense, he's his dad.

"It was a piece of what we were trying to find out, which was the
entire situation."

And the inability to piece that together bothered Moos.

"They were too many loose ends on this thing," Moos said, "in my
opinion -- I was the one who made the call to lift the suspension --
there were too many unanswered questions. There wasn't enough, in my
opinion, to punish DeAngelo."

Moos pointed out the same process had been followed early in the
season when sophomore Reggie Moore's then-dorm room was searched and a
small amount of marijuana was seized. The school waited nearly a month
until Moore was charged with two marijuana-related misdemeanors before
imposing a one-game suspension.

In another incident less than a month ago, Moos said, involving star
guard Klay Thompson, the facts were much more clear cut, allowing for
an immediate punishment.

"It's unfortunate we've got three to compare," Moos said.