Pubdate: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 Source: Oklahoman, The (OK) Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.oklahoman.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318 Author: Sheila K. Stogsdill, The Oklahoman Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?208 (Environmental Issues) AUTHORITIES WRANGLE OVER DESTROYING METH LAB EVIDENCE MIAMI, OK -- With meth labs booming in Oklahoma, so is the issue of handling evidence from them. It is becoming especially divisive in Ottawa County, where a judge was asked recently to suppress evidence of a lab because investigators took photos of it, then destroyed it. Children Exposed To Chemicals The issue isn't going away soon, not with 22 methamphetamine lab cases set for the October felony trial docket. The drug is a growing problem, hitting all areas of rural and urban Oklahoma. Meth lab seizures have increased steadily, with last year's 1,193 seizures making Oklahoma No. 3 in the nation. In Comanche County, certified deputies process meth labs, photos are taken of the evidence and samples are sent to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for analysis, said Ray Pyeatt, narcotics investigator. He said defense attorneys have tried to argue that evidence was destroyed. "With methamphetamine the No. 1 problem in our area, we don't have enough storage room or the proper containers to hold the evidence," Pyeatt said. "You really don't want to bring all that hazardous material into the courtroom." The issue recently took center stage in Ottawa County when attorneys for a suspected meth maker filed a motion to suppress photographic evidence in a case before Associate District Judge Bill Culver. Scott Graham, a sheriff's deputy and member of the Ottawa County drug unit, testified in a preliminary hearing that he took photographs of the methamphetamine materials, then destroyed the lab. The motion to suppress evidence prompted Sheriff Dennis King to fire off a letter to associate district judges Robert Haney and Culver saying he would not store materials seized from methamphetamine labs in his department. Ottawa County detective Mike Eason said the evidence room couldn't safely hold meth materials. "If one of the containers had a leak and exploded, a four-block radius around the courthouse would go up in smoke and flames," Eason said. Culver declined to comment on the case, except to say he overruled the motion to suppress and would accept photographs of methamphetamine material as evidence. Haney said the law can be interpreted various ways. "One part of the statute says the best evidence must be maintained, and another part of the law says hazardous materials must be destroyed," Haney said. "It wouldn't be a problem if the materials were stored in a sealed container." The sheriff said methamphetamine labs are toxic and flammable and cannot be put in sealed containers. Last year, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department confiscated 50 methamphetamine labs. The sheriff said he called the state Environmental Quality Department, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Occupational Safety and Health Agency about storing the hazardous materials. "I was told by all the agencies I could not store the materials at the sheriff's department, and if I did, I would be slapped with a fine," King said. He said he was told the materials could be stored in an off-site building. But insurance costs and city and county regulations make that impossible. "I have spoken to the county commissioners, and there is no feasible way to store the materials," King said. "We cannot ask taxpayers to assume a $500,000 to $1 million bill to build a storage unit to hold methamphetamine labs." King is expected to address the issue at the county commissioners' meeting today. Eason said that after a drug bust, authorities photograph the lab, take samples from the different chemicals, photograph the samples with a special evidence identification number and send the samples to the OSBI lab for analysis. During a preliminary hearing or trial, the photograph and the lab results are entered as evidence, Eason said. He added that not every sample is sent to the OSBI lab. "Sometimes a result from a field test is used in a preliminary hearing," Eason said. "If a defendant pleads guilty, the sample is destroyed." Samples waiting to be sent to the lab are stored in the evidence room, Eason said. In Mayes County, 42 labs were confiscated in 2001, and 53 labs have been confiscated this year. "Methamphetamine combined with burglary is our biggest problem," Mayes County Sheriff Frank Cantey said. Cantey said deputies collect the unfinished materials as evidence, store them in five-gallon plastic containers and send to the OSBI lab for testing. "As far as I know, we don't destroy anything until after a case is disposed of," Cantey said. Cantey added that the finished product is put into a sample kit and sent to the OSBI, but the remainder is stored in containers in the evidence vault. "The finished product is not hazardous and will not explode as long as it isn't near an open flame," Cantey said. "The materials start to explode when you mix the products." Trent Baggett, associate executive coordinator for the Oklahoma District Attorney's Council, said that beginning Nov. 1, House Bill 2303 will allow law enforcement agencies to destroy materials. Materials exceeding 10 pounds seized in a single incident are to be photographed with identifying case numbers and accompanied by a descriptive report. Agencies are required to keep one pound of the substance seized for every 10 pounds, and the sample taken must be large enough for the defendant to have an independent test, Baggett said. "While there are rules of evidence to be concerned with, you may have a difference in interpreting the law," Baggett said. "No one is wrong -- just different." Kym Koch, OSBI spokeswoman, said when the agency is called in to handle a methamphetamine bust, they take representative samples, photograph the materials and later destroy them. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl