Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9504050047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The issue was whether to convict Ricky L. Fleming of Roanoke on a charge of distributing cocaine, based on the testimony of a former drug dealer turned police informant who, the defense alleged, recently had returned to drug dealing.
"The commonwealth is asking you to send someone to the penitentiary based solely on the testimony of a convicted, known drug dealer ... and an admitted liar," defense attorney Melvin Hill had told the jury earlier.
During testimony in Roanoke Circuit Court, the informant said he bought 1.1 grams of cocaine from Fleming for $45 the night of Sept. 28, 1993, in a Northwest Roanoke apartment. A former drug dealer himself, the informant had agreed to work for police only after he was arrested.
While it is common for authorities to rely on the testimony of former drug dealers to convict more drug dealers, Fleming's case offered a new twist. The defense offered evidence that, after he agreed to work for police, the informant had gone back to selling cocaine himself.
That's a big difference, Hill argued, from other informants - some of them recovering addicts - who decide to work for police out of a sincere effort to stop the flow of cocaine in Roanoke.
"He is out there continuing to sell drugs," Hill said. "He would do anything, if it served his purpose, to avoid being sent to the penitentiary," including lying about the drug deal with Fleming.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Nagel readily conceded that the informant was a drug dealer before and may even be one now.
"Even if we believe that, all it means is these two are peas in a pod, and they are doing the same thing together," Nagel said.
In order to catch midlevel drug dealers like Fleming who avoid street corners and deal in larger amounts, Nagel said, police must rely on informants such as the one who testified Wednesday. As a result of the informant's work, at least six people have been convicted of drug charges in federal court, the prosecutor said.
"I don't hold him up as a hero, but I do say he did something necessary to help the commonwealth."
After the jurors deliberated about two hours, the foreman reported that they were deadlocked. Judge Richard Pattisall sent them back to try again, but by then, Nagel and Hill were discussing a possible plea agreement.
While the jury continued to haggle over the case, Fleming, 24, accepted a deal that had him walking out of the courthouse before the jurors did. He pleaded no contest, was convicted of distributing cocaine and received a seven-year suspended prison sentence, a $45 fine and two years' probation.
A smile tugged at the corners of Fleming's mouth as he left the courtroom with the jury still pondering whether he should go to prison for five to 40 years on the word of a fellow drug dealer. A few minutes later, Pattisall discharged the jury.
"It's a classic case of who's telling the truth," the judge told jurors, "and that's not always easy to determine."
by CNB