JUSTICES THROW OUT SCHOOL DRUG CASE

School officials may not act as agents of the police without following
the same constitutional standards for search and seizure, the state
Supreme Court affirmed Monday.

Chief Justice David Brock, with Justices Joseph Nadeau and Linda
Dalianis concurring, upheld a lower court ruling that suppressed
evidence against Joseph Heirtzler on charges of possession and
distribution of a controlled drug. The state had appealed.

Heirtzler, then a 17-year-old Londonderry High School student, was
charged in December 1998 after school officials conducted an
interrogation and search. Rockingham Superior Court Judge Patricia
Coffey threw out the evidence because school officials had not read
Heirtzler his Miranda rights.

Yesterday, Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams said he was
disappointed by the ruling. "I don't agree with it, but it's the law,
so I'll live with it," he said. "We don't think that the school was
acting on the government's behalf or for the government's benefit."

The case against Heirtzler has not gone to trial yet.

"We'll have to review the remaining evidence to see if we have enough
to go forward and make our charging decision based on what evidence we
have left," Reams said.

The Supreme Court ruling, released Monday morning, said the state's
appeal did not challenge the trial court's finding that school
officials failed to comply with procedural safeguards required when
the state interrogates and searches a criminal defendant. Therefore
the court limited its review to whether an agency relationship existed
between the school and police.

In its review, the Supreme Court said the record upheld the trial
court's finding of fact that there was an "agency relationship"
between Londonderry school officials and police.

County Attorney Reams said he would send school districts in
Rockingham County a model agreement between police and school
officials to clarify their roles so school officials do not
inadvertently become deputies.

"Hopefully those kind of agreements will eliminate this kind of
confusion," he said.

In Heirtzler's case, a school teacher noticed him pass what appeared
to be a folded piece of tinfoil to another student. The student
removed something from the tinfoil, put it in a piece of cellophane
and passed the folded tinfoil back to Heirtzler, according to the
Supreme Court opinion.

The teacher notified Londonderry police officer Michael Bennett, who
was assigned as school resource officer for Londonderry High School.
Bennett passed on the information to assistant principal James O'Neill
for action.

"O'Neill and another assistant principal, Robert Shaps, called the
defendant to the office, questioned him and asked if they could search
him," the court said. "The defendant complied with the search request
and a piece of paper wrapped in tinfoil was found in his cigarette
pack. After further questioning, the defendant stated that the piece
of paper might be LSD."

At that point, the school officials contacted police.

"Because O'Neill and Shaps were acting as agents of the police and
failed to comply with the procedural safeguards required when the
state interrogates and searches a defendant, the trial court granted
the defendant's motion to suppress," the Supreme Court wrote.