Pubdate: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 Source: Topeka Capital-Journal (KS) Copyright: 2000 The Topeka Capital-Journal Contact: 616 S.E. Jefferson, Topeka, Kansas 66607 Website: http://cjonline.com/ Author: Steve Fry The Capital-Journal OBLANDER: I DIDN'T TELL SHERIFF FORMER DEPUTY TESTIFIES IN MENELEY'S PERJURY HEARING. A soft-spoken Timothy P. Oblander testified Wednesday he never told Sheriff Dave Meneley about his cocaine addiction and his thefts of cocaine. Oblander, a former sheriff's narcotics officer, also testified he didn't mention his drug use to Meneley during a meeting in mid-1995 as Oblander was about to finish a stint in a drug rehabilitation center because he assumed the sheriff knew of his drug problem. In three and a half hours of testimony, Oblander admitted stealing cocaine from a drug investigator's office at the Shawnee County Sheriff's Department in July 1994 that launched a months-long Kansas Bureau of Investigation probe and mushroomed into the sheriff's department drug scandal. Oblander's testimony Wednesday came during the preliminary hearing of Meneley, who is charged with two counts of felony perjury stemming from his sworn testimony in 1999. On those occasions, Meneley is charged with saying in February and March 1999 that he didn't know Oblander used illegal drugs while a deputy. On Tuesday, two deputies testified that during a July 1995 meeting, Meneley told them Oblander was the officer responsible for taking the drug evidence stored in a sheriff's evidence facility from a 1994 federal drug case. They also said Meneley told them Oblander had a cocaine addiction, had used drugs purchased through his narcotics investigation work and was undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation center. Oblander, who resigned as a corporal Feb. 26, 1999, entered into a diversion agreement with the district attorney's office. In part, he agreed to testify against Meneley and Sgt. Frank Good, who also is charged with two counts of perjury, in exchange for dismissal of six counts of perjury and one count of official misconduct. The deal also calls for federal authorities not to prosecute Oblander for possession of cocaine. Oblander said after he had invoked his Fifth Amendment right against incriminating himself when he was sworn in on the witness stand during a Nov. 23, 1998, drug case, he wasn't fired when he returned to the sheriff's department. He also said neither Meneley nor any of the sheriff's department hierarchy quizzed the uniformed Oblander about why he declined to testify in Shawnee County District Court. Charges against the defendant in that case were dismissed because Oblander didn't testify. The Meneley preliminary hearing is to resume Jan. 27. Late Wednesday during the hearing, District Attorney Joan Hamilton issued a subpoena to require District Judge Eric Rosen to testify. After a six-day evidentiary hearing in 1999 linked to drug charges against Carlos Hernandez, Rosen ruled that drug evidence in the sheriff's department was contaminated during a three-year period and there was corruption in the department and then dismissed the Hernandez drug charges. It isn't known whether Rosen will testify, seek to quash the subpoena or meet with prosecution and defense attorneys to determine whether a statement agreeable to both sides can be hammered out. In other testimony, Sgt. Scott Baker denied talking to Meneley, Good or anyone else at the sheriff's department about Oblander's drug addiction before Oblander admitted it March 1, 1999. On Tuesday, Deputy Phil Blume testified Baker had been told by Meneley about Oblander's drug use. Blume also testified Meneley told him and Detective Daniel Jaramillo that the sheriff had discussed Oblander's drug use with Baker, and Baker was "upset" because he formerly was Oblander's partner. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk