JACKSON, Miss. - Delays at the state's crime lab caused by employee shortages and a time-consuming switch to a national DNA database have created an evidence-testing backlog that has put more than 800 rape and murder cases on hold.

Getting results from the lab can take as long as a year, forcing some law enforcement officials and prosecutors to seek lesser charges against crime suspects - or let them go free.

"Until you have your facts, you can't make an arrest," said Oxford Police Chief Steve Bramlett, who waited more than a year for results he used to get a suspected rapist off the street. "I would love to solve every case an hour after the crime occurs, but that only happens on TV."

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The former chief deputy of the Tunica County Sheriff's Department was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in a federal prison for extorting payoffs to protect drug dealers.

Willie Lee Starks, known on the streets as 'Cat Daddy' had nothing to say before U.S. Dist. Judge L.T. Senter, Jr imposed the sentence after telling Starks he was a " disgrace to Tunica County, the State of Mississippi, and the United States of America." according to those in the Aberdeen courtroom.

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The Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday returned to a Pontotoc man a pickup seized by the city of New Albany following a 1995 drug arrest.

Chief Justice Lenore Prather said Ricky Galloway's situation falls under the innocent owner exception to the state's forfeiture law and the seizure of the truck violates the excessive penalty provision of the Mississippi Constitution.

Galloway had argued in his appeal to the court that the vehicle should be returned because the charges were dismissed. Galloway contended New Albany officials refused to return the truck despite evidence showing he was innocent of the drug charges.

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Funds Approved To Hire Help, Raise Pay

JACKSON - Thousands of aging murder, drug and drunken driving cases could find new life this summer after the Mississippi Crime Lab begins adding an extra 41 employees to its statewide staff.

A bill Mississippi lawmakers passed this year will give the agency $7.3 million to fund the salaries of new workers and give raises for veteran employees, many of whom could find higher-paying jobs in other states.

"We still will have to wait and see what they are going to do on a person-to-person basis," Mike Weaver, a toxicologist with the Crime Lab for more than eight years, said this week. "Knowing I should get something makes me feel better."

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Oxford, Mississippi -- A researcher at the University of Mississippi have developed a marijuana-based rectal suppository.

The researcher says the suppository contains the active ingredient in marijuana, T-H-C. He says it could be useful for patients suffering from nausea and other problems. He says the patient gets T-H-C's medicinal value without the psychological high associated with smoking marijuana.

He also says the drug is less likely to be abused this way. He figures most people don't want any type of suppository.



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A Chicago police officer who was once the target of an unsuccessful department firing attempt was being held Monday in a Mississippi jail on a drug charge after deputies said they found 120 pounds of marijuana in a van in which he was traveling.

Peter Ramon, who had been assigned to the Albany Park District station on the Northwest Side, was traveling from Houston to Chicago on Feb. 25 when sheriff's deputies stopped the van north of Jackson, Miss., officials said Monday.

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