DRUG TREATMENT COURT CLIENT SAYS HE FACES OBSTACLES

NEW BERLIN - The man is fighting addictions to cocaine and
alcohol.

For about 15 months, he has been participating in the Otsego County
Drug Treatment Court program, and he's encountered some unusual
problems, he says.

He was committed to a psychiatric ward after making an off-the-cuff
remark, he says.

He has, with permission from Otsego County Judge Michael Coccoma, made
undercover cocaine buys to help Oneonta city police arrest cocaine
dealers, he says.

He has been wrongly accused of using cocaine by court officials, he
says.

And now he stands to lose his job as a heavy equipment operator and
his health insurance because of a new requirement that compels drug
court participants to report for random drug testing, he says.

James, not his real name, was admitted to the Drug Treatment Court
program after he violated his probation, he says. He was on probation
because he had been convicted of petit larceny, he says.

His court records are not available to the public, according to Gloria
Chandler, chief clerk 3 of County and State Supreme courts in
Cooperstown.

"Drug Treatment Court records are confidential," Chandler
said.

James says he has a long rap sheet: "Nothing violent, but I've screwed
up and I admit it."

He's been convicted of third-degree burglary, and twice he's served
time in prison, he says.

"I did 12 months in '90 and six months in '92," says
James.

At his side during an interview with The Daily Star is David Taylor,
formerly an Otsego County assistant public defender.

Taylor, who's had his own problems and is working to regain his
professional license, says he can vouch for James' veracity.

"In my experience, he tells the truth even when it's not to his
advantage," says Taylor.

James, who's antsy because he's out on bail under unusual
circumstances, thanks Taylor for standing by him and steering him
though his legal problems.

"I got into the drug court because I wanted to straighten out," he
says.

He was facing eight months in jail but opted for treatment instead,
hoping to settle down before he was fully middle-aged, he says.

In some ways, the program has helped him. He's sober almost all the
time, he says.

"I'm in early recovery, but it's going pretty well," he says. "I
relapsed only once, June 13, Friday the 13th," he says. "Other than
that, OK. And after that, I did my three days in jail, then continued
to comply."

In other ways, though, the program has been a nightmare, he
says.

"I was sent to the psych ward over nothing," he says.

One day last July, he was told to report to the Otsego County
Department of Social Services to apply for Medicaid, which he didn't
want to do because he was working to keep private health insurance, he
says. James says he found the interview frustrating and at one point
told the counselor, "You people are enough to make someone take a long
drive off a short pier."

"Twenty minutes later, a trooper was there," says James.

He was locked into A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta for a few
days as a danger to himself, he says.

"I've done a lot of things wrong in my life," he says. "But I've
never, never for a second, been a danger to myself in the way they
were saying."

According to state police Investigator Joseph Valentine, troopers did
take James from the social services office at the Greystone Building
near Cooperstown to Fox Hospital on July 14. They were called in by
Otsego County Deputy Rodney Preston, who was stationed there, he said.

Preston said he did not witness James' remark but was instructed to
arrange to have him taken to Fox Hospital.

"I just did what I was asked to do. I didn't see anything," said
Preston.

DSS cannot disclose anything about a Medicaid applicant's interview, a
DSS official said Tuesday.

James says he has been undercover twice, with Coccoma's permission,
helping the Oneonta Police Department arrest drug suspects.

A law enforcement official confirmed this on condition of
anonymity.

Leo Giovagnoli, coordinator of the Otsego County Drug Court, said the
court has no rules about whether a participant can go undercover with
police. He said he could not disclose whether anyone in the program
has been undercover.

Mai Yee, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Court Administration,
said there are no state rules or regulations on whether a drug court
participant can help police arrest suspects.

"That's something a judge would have to decide," she
said.

Coccoma declined to discuss this case. His law clerk, Stephen Judd,
said the judge is prohibited from discussing the specifics of any drug
court participant's experience.

James said he willingly helped police once and didn't mind the other
time.

"But with all due respect to the judge, I wonder whether I should have
been doing it," he says. "I mean, I was supposed to stay away from
cocaine."

Richard Rothermel, Otsego County public defender, said he was never
told James was cooperating with police.

He added that having a Drug Treatment Court participant work
undercover buying drugs seems unwise.

"It runs counter to the spirit of the program," said Rothermel.
"You're supposed to avoid those kinds of associations; you're supposed
to be straightening your life out."

But Rothermel said he wouldn't automatically advise a client not to go
undercover.

"I think I'd have to ask, 'What's in it for you?'" said
Rothermel.

James says nothing was in it for him.

Instead, he's been accused of using cocaine, he says.

Like other drug court participants, James wears a sweat patch on his
body and it has tested positive for cocaine, he says. And on March 8,
at the start of a Drug Treatment Court session, his urine tested
positively for cocaine, he says.

"I did not ingest cocaine, so the urine screen and the patch must have
been contaminated," he says. "I was around people who were smoking it,
and it could have come from that."

Giovagnoli said the tests are very accurate and are interpreted in
ways to minimize the chance that someone will be falsely accused.

Rothermel said many people who test positive for illegal drugs claim
the tests are inaccurate, but later recant.

However, he said he wouldn't rule out that James is telling the
truth.

Information on the Internet at stopthedrugwar.org, among other sites,
questions the accuracy of sweat patches and says experts believe they
can be contaminated from outside the body. Other sites state that
urine screens and sweat patches are very accurate.

James says he protested his innocence in court on March 8, but was
sanctioned to six days in jail by Coccoma.

However, when he arrived at the Otsego County Jail, the papers
committing him to a short sentence had a provision that he could bail
himself out, he says. This was confirmed by the Otsego County
Sheriff's Department.

"I couldn't believe it, but I bailed myself out," says James, still
unsure whether the bail will be revoked.

Rothermel said he was puzzled as to why James had been able to avoid
or delay serving his six days in jail.

"I can't explain it," he said.

Giovagnoli deferred to Coccoma when questioned about
this.

Coccoma, who has been presiding over court in Delhi as well as
Cooperstown, did not respond to a faxed question about this bail provision.

"He's been working very hard, right through his lunch hour," said
Giovagnoli.

James says the last straw for him is a new rule requiring participants
to call in daily to see if they must be tested that day for drug use.

"I'm a heavy equipment operator and I was going to work in Hudson," he
says. "There's no way I can leave the job without notice and drive to
Oneonta for a drug test. And if I can't hold a job, how am I ever
going to get my life together?"

Giovagnoli said the call-in program works in other drug courts, and
Coccoma and others are determined to make it work here. "We've always
been flexible with people in the program," Giovagnoli said. "We try to
work with everyone, and we've had a lot of success.

"Other counties haven't done as well because not everyone's on the
same page," said Giovagnoli. "But Judge Coccoma has worked hard to
bring all the elements of the program together and most people are
doing very well."

If a participant couldn't undergo a drug screening by the end of the
work day, arrangements might be made to allow for drug testing in the
evening, he said.

"We want people to keep their jobs," said Giovagnoli. "But public
safety is our No. 1 concern, and we want to ensure that no one is
using drugs."

Giovagnoli said the program has 39 participants and eight others who
are observing it, deciding whether to enroll.

James said he may drop out.

A few days after the interview, he asked Albany attorney Terence
Kindlon to represent him.

He said he expects his case will go before Otsego town Justice James
Wolff, who handled it before James went to drug court. He also said he
worries about being sent to jail, along with two people he helped arrest.

Wolff said Tuesday he hasn't heard that James' case will come back to
his court.

James said Wednesday that Kindlon has agreed to represent him and
offered him some advice.

"He told me not to talk to reporters," he said.