Pubdate: Sun, 24 Mar 2002
Source: Pensacola News Journal (FL)
Copyright: 2002 The Pensacola News Journal
Contact:  http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1675
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n535/a08.html
Note: From staff reports

DEPUTY INNOCENT IN DRUG THEFT

After testifying in his defense Saturday, a former Escambia County 
sheriff's deputy was acquitted of charges that he stole marijuana from an 
evidence room.

Jerry West, 29, was found not guilty after the Escambia County jury 
deliberated just minutes during a rare Saturday court proceeding. Circuit 
Judge Linda Nobles ordered the weekend session because she had a conflict 
in her schedule for next week.

In the third and final day of the trial, West testified for about two hours 
under questioning from his attorney, Nobles reported after the verdict. 
Prosecutors cross-examined West for about 45 minutes.

At the end of a full day of work, the six-member jury deliberated for about 
30 minutes before finding West not guilty of possessing less than 20 grams 
of marijuana and tampering with evidence.

West, who was arrested in April 2000, was accused of swapping a higher 
grade of marijuana for a lower grade. He also tested positive for drug abuse.

Defense attorney Jerry Allred argued that the amount of the drug found in 
the test was less than what counts as a positive test. He suggested West 
might have inhaled the marijuana while handling evidence.
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