Pubdate: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2002 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Rex Bowman DEA AGENT PLEADS NOT GUILTY ROANOKE - A federal drug agent from Texas pleaded not guilty yesterday to murdering a Roanoke man after a parking-lot scuffle outside a bar. But Roanoke prosecutor Donald Caldwell said evidence will show special agent Timothy G. Workman, temporarily assigned to Roanoke from the McAllen, Texas, office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, shot a man to death Tuesday in an argument over a woman after a night of drinking. "A cursory review of the evidence suggests the big three were involved - alcohol, guns and testosterone," Caldwell said. "There were a number of people who saw these events, so it's not just going to be a case of one person's word against another." Keith E. Bailey, 41, was shot three times in the chest shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday outside O'Charley's restaurant, which has a bar that closes at 2 a.m. Bailey died in the parking lot. Workman, 31, was in Roanoke on a temporary investigative assignment, according to a DEA spokesman. Police allege Workman and Bailey were drinking in the bar, separately, and began arguing once outside. The argument escalated into a fight, and the fight ended in gunshots, according to police. Caldwell said Bailey was unarmed, while Workman wielded a 9-mm revolver. Though authorities remained tight-lipped after yesterday's proceedings in Roanoke General District Court, during which Workman pleaded not guilty, Caldwell said the dispute revolved around a woman. The woman was an acquaintance of Bailey's but was with Workman when the argument began. Caldwell said the woman was in the parking lot during the fight but had left by the time police arrived. Investigators later tracked her down, he said. Tony Anderson, the Roanoke lawyer representing Workman, declined to discuss the case in detail outside the courtroom, except to reiterate that Workman maintains his innocence. "I'm not going to make any comments about his version of events," Anderson said. "I really can't comment about any of the facts, as much as I'd like to." Workman is being held in the Roanoke jail without bond. Anderson described Workman as "shaken about being behind bars, but he's holding up OK." The DEA has suspended Workman from duty, with pay, and dispatched an internal-affairs team to look into the shooting. Yesterday, several DEA agents sat in the courtroom as Workman entered his plea. Authorities described both Workman and Bailey as married. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth