JURORS SELECTED FOR TRIAL OF OFFICER

WILMINGTON - Twelve jurors and three alternate jurors were chosen
Wednesday to hear the case of Lumberton police Lt. Leon Oxendine in
U.S. District Court.

Oxendine, 51, is charged with tampering with a witness, making false
statements to the FBI and five counts of making false declarations
before a federal grand jury. All are felonies.

Oxendine has worked for the Lumberton Police Department since 1978. He
was placed on administrative leave without pay in February 2003. He
was arrested in April.

Testimony in Oxendine's trial is expected to begin Monday. Judge James
Fox will preside. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Evenson and Winnie
Reaves are prosecuting the case. Lumberton lawyer Woodberry Bowen
represents Oxendine.

Fox and lawyers for both sides took about 90 minutes to seat the jury.
Fox spent the remainder of the afternoon hearing pre-trial motions.

"I'm glad this part is over,'' Oxendine said Wednesday after court.
"I'm ready to start the trial and for the truth to be known."

Oxendine was charged after the State Bureau of Investigation and the
FBI looked into allegations that evidence was planted in the home of a
suspected drug dealer in 2002.

Court records show that Scott LaClaire, a police informant, planted a
disk that contained an image of a $100 bill at a home on Albion Street
in Lumberton.

LaClaire told investigators that Oxendine told him to plant the disk,
according to court records.

Oxendine is accused of lying to the FBI about his role in planting the
disk.

He also is accused of lying when he told a grand jury that he didn't
know about the planted disk and when he said that he hadn't spoken to
LaClaire about the disk.

James Jordan, a former Lumberton police officer, also was involved in
the search of the house in 2002. Jordan, who resigned last year,
pleaded guilty to resisting a public officer in January and agreed to
testify against Oxendine as part of a plea bargain.

LaClaire pleaded no contest to obstruction of justice in March and
also is expected to testify against Oxendine. Jordan and LaClaire will
be sentenced after the trial.