JUDGE'S ATTORNEY SAYS POWDER SEIZED WAS NOT COCAINE

SALT LAKE CITY - The attorney for 4th District Judge Ray Harding
Jr. has asked that the evidence against his client be suppressed
because white powder handed to police by the judge's wife turned out
not to be cocaine.

Defense attorney Edward Brass contends the search warrant for
Harding's Highland home was obtained under false pretenses, and the
evidence gathered by police should be suppressed, according to a

Believing the bag held cocaine, based in part on a positive field
test, police arrested Harding on July 13 and persuaded another judge
to issue the search warrant. Harding, 49, later was charged with
felony drug possession. He has pleaded innocent.

Anne Harding had called police to the home, claiming that her husband
was a drug abuser and handed officers the bag, containing white powder
she claimed was cocaine.

Subsequent tests at the Utah Crime Laboratory proved the white powder
did not contain any controlled substances, and two other bags of white
powder seized by police also tested negative for illegal drugs,
according to a crime lab report dated July 26 and disclosed in Brass'
suppression motion filed this week.

Prosecutors nevertheless charged Harding in September - apparently
based on tests of the judge's hair, which allegedly indicated he had
used cocaine and heroin.

Police also said they witnessed Harding staggering and shaking at the
time of his arrest.

Traces of cocaine or heroin were found on 11 items seized by police
that Harding allegedly used to snort or smoke illegal drugs, including
two metal spoons and several straws, according to the crime lab report.

''The fact that the bag presented by Mrs. Harding did not contain
illegal drugs undermines all portions of the affidavit containing her
drug-related allegations,'' Brass said.

Kirk Torgensen, chief deputy of the Utah Attorney General's criminal
division, declined to comment Tuesday.

Arguments on the suppression request are set for Jan.
27.

In October, Anne Harding obtained a restraining order against her
husband of two years, claiming she feared revenge for calling the
police. She filed for divorce in November.

In court documents, Harding, who has been on paid administrative
leave, has denied abusing his wife or placing her in fear for her safety.

After his arrest, he spent three months at the Betty Ford Clinic in
California.