Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA) Copyright: 2002 Athens Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.onlineathens.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption) SHERIFF ABUSED DRUGS, COURT PAPERS REVEAL Effingham Controversy SPRINGFIELD, Ga. (AP) - Effingham County Sheriff Jay Space has abused painkillers and other prescription drugs since he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year, according to court papers seeking to remove the sheriff from office. Space, 40, was arrested on drug charges Wednesday, three weeks after Gov. Roy Barnes suspended him for 60 days. Barnes said the sheriff's illness had rendered him unfit for duty, but did not mention drugs. The arrest means Space now faces criminal prosecution on felony charges as well as losing the job he was elected to in 1996 and 2000. Court papers filed Wednesday by District Attorney Joe Martin say Space's drug use, reckless driving and bizarre behavior prove he needs to be permanently removed from office. ''Sheriff Space is incapacitated as a result of the use and abuse of prescription medications,'' as well as the effects of his disease, the court filing says. The papers seek a civil trial in which a jury would decide whether to force Space from office. No hearing dates have been set. The documents also detail accounts of Space's odd behavior. In one, Space pesters a female county employee about the color of her underwear. In another, he literally stomps on Georgia's new state flag. Space's attorneys, Herman Coolidge and Bobby Phillips, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. Before his suspension, Space declared several times he could do his job while battling MS, a degenerative disease that causes loss of muscle control. Court records say Space illegally bought drugs without a prescription 24 times between May 2001, a month before the sheriff announced he had MS, and last month. Prosecutors say Space self-medicated with several controlled drugs including the sedative Valium, the anti-depressant Paxil and the painkillers tramadol, dihydrocodeine, Percocet and OxyContin. Space also made monthly purchases of 500 tablets of the drug butalbital, a potentially addictive barbiturate used to treat tension headaches, the court records say. There are no charges that Space used any drugs that cannot be prescribed legally. But prosecutors say there's evidence Space abused prescription drugs even before May 2001. Court records say Space's wife and sister had the sheriff committed to a hospital against his will for ''dual treatment for prescription drug abuse and multiple sclerosis'' on April 18, 2001. The documents also contain accounts of Space behaving strangely, such as an Aug. 14 meeting on a new dress code for Effingham County employees. ''Sheriff Space began to inappropriately comment on the women who might be wearing thong underwear,'' the documents say. ''Sheriff Space followed a female county employee around trying to look at the color and style of her underwear.'' Prosecutors also say Space threw a tantrum last year when employees replaced the department's old Georgia flag, with its prominent Confederate emblem, with the newly approved state flag that shrinks the symbol. ''Sheriff Space took it down and threw it onto the floor and jumped up and down on it repeatedly,'' the court papers say. ''He then ordered deputies to take it out and burn it. He then folded the flag up and threw it in the trash can.'' Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Space at his home Wednesday, said GBI spokesman John Bankhead. He was released on bond from the Effingham County jail. ''This was a result of a search warrant executed on his house several weeks ago'' in which agents seized prescription drugs, Bankhead said. Agents suspect Space bought the drugs over the Internet, he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom