BROOKLYN: POSSIBLE SHIFT IN DRUG AGENT CASE

A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that a Drug Enforcement
Administration agent charged with manslaughter after shooting a suspect can
have his case moved from state to federal court.

The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, had fought the effort by
lawyers for the agent, Jude Tanella. A federal trial could give Mr. Tanella
access to a jury drawn from a wider pool that might be more sympathetic to
law enforcement officers than a jury drawn only from Brooklyn. The judge,
Nicholas G. Garaufis, said in an opinion yesterday that if Mr. Tanella
eventually proved that the killing was a legitimate law enforcement
response to threatening actions by the suspect, Egbert David Dewgard, the
judge could dismiss the indictment and declare Mr. Tanella immune from the
state charges.