JUDGE GAVE PROSECUTOR UNTIL END OF DAY TO FIND MISSING PAGES OF DOCUMENT

Hearing Halted

COLUMBUS, Kan. - A pretrial motions hearing in Cherokee County District
Court on Friday in the drug-possession case of former Cherokee County
Treasurer Sharon Carpino ground to a halt after one witness. Judge John
White asked the location of pages missing from an informant's agreement the
sheriff's department made with Carpino.

"That document appears to me to be promises made to her," said White,
assigned to the case from Allen County.

The missing pages apparently describe the sheriff's department's promises
to Carpino in return for her acting as an informant in drug cases.

He gave special prosecutor Steven Angermayer until 5 p.m. Friday to produce
the missing information, if it can be located, and rescheduled the pretrial
motions for Feb. 22.

At the end of Carpino's preliminary hearing in October, White bound her
over for trial on one count of felony drug possession, while dismissing two
other counts. White ruled authorities could not link traces of
methamphetamine found in her trash to her. She also faces misdemeanor
charges that she made false payments totaling $1,305 from the county
treasurer's office.

Edward Battitori, Carpino's defense attorney, sought to suppress oral and
written statements made by Carpino in a Dec. 3, 1999, interview in the
sheriff's department. He sought to prove the statements were coerced.

The interview was taped and attorneys frequently referred to the tape
transcript.

Former sheriff's deputy Mickey Rantz was the only witness to testify.

Under questioning by Angermayer, Rantz said on the day of the
interrogation, he considered Carpino an informant and not a suspect.

He said he and former sheriff's detective Roger Wormington questioned
Carpino in Sheriff Bob Creech's office.

"She signed an informant memorandum," Rantz said. "Lt. Wormington was
talking to her, telling her she was not a primary target. We wanted to use
her as an informant, not a suspect."

He said she voluntarily signed a consent to search her home.

He said he, Carpino and former sheriff's detective Roger Wormington drove
to her house in private cars to avoid calling attention to the search. When
they arrived, he said Carpino led them to a bathrobe she said had a broken
methamphetamine pipe in its pocket. He retrieved the pipe.

Rantz said Carpino never asked them to leave or protested their presence.

"Everything was very cordial," Rantz said.

Asked if he had any contact with Carpino after the Dec. 3 interview, Rantz
said Carpino and former county appraiser Wayne Weaver met with him at
nearby softball fields a few weeks later.

"She contacted me," Rantz said.

He said that during the meeting Carpino said she wanted to talk about then
county clerk Maurice Soper. He said she told him there were much bigger
things going on at the courthouse than anything she had done.

Soper committed suicide in March 2000.

Battitori focused on a letter to the director of the Kansas Bureau of
Investigation in his cross examination.

Rantz testified that Wormington presented the letter to Carpino before
starting the tape recorder.

Sheriff Bob Creech wrote the letter to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation
director and it includes a reference to the danger her child might face in
a house where drugs are used.

Under questioning from Battitori, Rantz said he recalled Wormington telling
Carpino that the letter would not be mailed if she cooperated.

Rantz also said he understood that to mean that if Carpino didn't
cooperate, the letter would be mailed.

Battitori asked Rantz if it was correct that no one ever removed the threat
to mail the letter.

"I guess, if she perceived it as a threat," Rantz said.

"How else would she perceive it?" the judge asked.

Rantz said he didn't understand how it was a threat.

"Ultimately, the letter was used to extract statements from my client,
correct?" Battitori asked.

"I guess," Rantz responded.

Battitori also asked Rantz if he and Wormington lied to Carpino during the
interview.

"Yes, deception was used," he said.

Under cross-examination, Rantz said that he and Wormington used some of the
information obtained in the interview to formulate a case against Carpino.

Battitori also called Rantz's attention to a section of the transcript of
the taped interview where Carpino said she didn't think she had any choice
but to cooperate. Rantz said he didn't interpret the statement to mean she
didn't want to cooperate but that she may feel threatened by the criminals
she may contact as an informant.

Battitori also asked Rantz about the handgun in Carpino's purse.

Rantz said before the questioning started, he removed the gun from
Carpino's purse, saying the action was necessary for his and Wormington's
safety. He said Carpino stated she didn't know it was illegal to carry a
gun in her purse.

He said he had observed the gun in her purse earlier in her office. He
allowed her to carry it downstairs, he said, to establish that it was her
purse and her gun.

White said the information missing from the informant's agreement could be
important to the defense motions. There is no trial date.

Carpino has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the county, Creech,
Wormington and Rantz, alleging they violated her civil rights. That lawsuit
is on hold until resolution of her criminal case.