ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512260084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A federal judge's decision to dismiss two drug indictments could result in a racial quota system and ultimately may force prosecutors to abandon communities plagued by crack violence, angry prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson on Thursday dismissed drug conspiracy and money laundering charges against Anthony L. Olvis and Angela D. Palmer, saying prosecutors' refusal to turn over working papers made it impossible to tell whether Olvis, Palmer and other defendants were unfairly prosecuted because they are black.
Prosecutors denied they were motivated by racism in the case, which involves three suspected drug gangs.
``The decisions in this case were made on the basis of evidence,'' said Helen Fahey, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Prosecutors are appealing Jackson's ruling. Alleged members of the crack gangs will remain in jail while the case is on appeal.
The judge's order, if upheld, could have far-reaching implications, Fahey and other federal prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said they offered transcripts of the grand jury testimony in the drug cases to the judge so he could determine if there was racial bias.
``He refused,'' Fahey said. ``So for him to say we weren't cooperating is absurd. ... The government has nothing to hide.''
The grand jury transcripts are among the papers that Jackson ordered prosecutors to turn over to defense attorneys.
Defense attorneys say five whites who testified before the grand jury - but were not charged - were more involved in the drug activity than blacks who were charged.
But prosecutors say about 55 other witnesses, all black, also testified before the grand jury and were not charged, even though most of them were more heavily involved in the drug trade than the white witnesses.
Violent crack gangs in Hampton Roads are almost exclusively run by blacks in black neighborhoods, prosecutors said. The irony of Jackson's ruling, prosecutors said, is that law-abiding members of the black community who have asked for more law enforcement may end up with less.
``Most of the victims are black. Most of the perpetrators are black. And the people who are the losers in all this are the people in the community,'' Fahey said. ``If this prevails, there are two choices: We can set up a quota system for prosecution and we can determine how many blacks, whites and Hispanics need to be prosecuted for each crime; or we can withdraw from the areas of violent crime.''
Fahey said the judge's order to turn over evidence, specifically grand jury testimony of witnesses, ``would have been contrary to the law and would have put our witnesses at risk and in substantial danger, and I will not do that.''
Prosecutors' fears of witness intimidation already are coming to pass, said Michael R. Smythers, executive assistant U.S. attorney in Norfolk. The sister of a witness in one drug case, whose name was released by defense attorneys, has been threatened.
``That girl's sister - a 15-year-old high school student in James City County - was threatened,'' Smythers said. ``They said, `We may not be able to get your sister, but if she testifies, we know how to find you.'''
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB