ASPEN COCAINE CASE MIGHT NOT HOLD UP IN COURT

Constitutional Issue Looms Over Charges Of Cocaine Possession

ASPEN - The fate of Moses Greengrass is in the hands of District
Judge James Boyd, who will decide whether his arrest in March was
constitutional.

Greengrass, 26, faces charges of felony possession of more than 25
grams of cocaine and possession with intent to sell. If Boyd deems
the arrest unconstitutional, the prosecution will have no case, and
Greengrass will go free.

Greengrass remains in the Pitkin County Jail for allegedly violating
his parole. Greengrass was released from prison in January after
serving seven years for his role in a 1999 crime spree in Aspen,
which involved local teenagers committing a string of armed robberies
in the upper valley; he would not be released from jail on the
current charges even if he could pay the $25,000 bond.

Boyd heard evidence during a seven-hour hearing Monday on whether to
allow evidence. Boyd said he will issue a written ruling before
Greengrass's arraignment, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 10.

At issue is the first few contacts that rookie Aspen police officer
Jeff Fain made with Greengrass on the night of March 22. Though Fain
was in training at the time, he was the one who allegedly saw
Greengrass make a deal and was the arresting officer.

Deputy District Attorney Gail Nichols agreed with the defense that if
the first contact "was awry, then we lose everything after."

"The officer did not have a basis to be contacting Mr. Greengrass at
all," argued defense attorney Garth McCarty. "That was an involuntary
stop, if not a detention straightaway."

According to testimony, Fain came out of a walk-through of Eric's Bar
early on the morning of March 23 and noticed Greengrass on the far
side of a Toyota Scion speaking with a woman in the driver's seat. A
man was standing, looking in the open window of the passenger side of
the vehicle.

In testimony, Fain said he saw, from 10 feet away and through the
front windshield of the car, Greengrass make a handoff with the
woman. Fain suspected a drug transaction and stopped Greengrass for
questioning, though Fain never interviewed the woman.

During Monday's hearing, the woman - Heather Phillips - took the
stand, testified that she was Greengrass' girlfriend and said she had
not made a drug transaction. She also testified that she was driving
Greengrass' vehicle, the Scion.

The man on the passenger side of the vehicle, Benjamin Aley,
testified that he is Greengrass' brother and said he did not see a
transaction either.

During Monday's hearing, Fain admitted making mistakes during the
arrest, such as telling Greengrass, "Sucks to be you," just after the
arrest. Fain said his training officer reprimanded him after the
incident was over.

Fain was still in training at the time of Greengrass' arrest; his
training was extended because he failed some tests, such as knowing
every Aspen street name.

McCarty also brought up Fain's recent car wreck while on the job, in
which Fain was at fault, and said it shows Fain is willing to put the
public at risk to make a bust.

"A police officer who would cut corners, a police officer who would
sacrifice public safety for a simple car stop," McCarty said, "would
also be willing to cut corners when it comes to constitutional rights."

Nichols argued that the initial contact with Greengrass was voluntary
and that Fain grew more suspicious because Greengrass looked nervous.
Fain testified that he kept asking Greengrass to talk more and
eventually grabbed Greengrass while he was walking away.

When Fain attempted to question Greengrass further, he fled on foot,
shedding his puffy black jacket as he ran, according to Fain. Fain
caught Greengrass in the breezeway behind the Caribou Club on East
Hopkins Avenue and watched as Greengrass stuffed the jacket behind a
wooden pallet.

Renee Rayton, then an Aspen police officer, retrieved the jacket and
found a velvet bag containing plastic baggies and small, folded
envelopes, also known as bindles. Police Sgt. John Rushing testified
that he searched the jacket with Rayton and that one of the baggies
tested positive for cocaine.