Pot times
Barrington Drug-Bust Trial Gets Under Way
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1104/a05.htmlNewshawk: Humphrey Ploughjogger (www.MassCann.org)
Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 BARRINGTON DRUG-BUST TRIAL GETS UNDER WAY
Source: Berkshire Eagle, The (Pittsfield, MA)
Copyright: 2005 New England Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:
mailto:letters@berkshireeagle.com>letters@berkshireeagle.com
Website: <http://www.berkshireeagle.com/>http://www.berkshireeagle.com/
Details: <http://www.mapinc.org/media/897>http://www.mapinc.org/media/897
Author: Ellen G. Lahr, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Bookmark:
<http://www.mapinc.org/find?217>http://www.mapinc.org/find?217
(Drug-Free Zones)
Bookmark:
<http://www.mapinc.org/find?199>http://www.mapinc.org/find?199
(Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
Bookmark:
<http://www.mapinc.org/find?225>http://www.mapinc.org/find?225
(Students - United States)
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1091/a12.html
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n882/a04.html
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n779/a04.html
PITTSFIELD -- The first jury trial in connection with last year's Great
Barrington drug sweep -- which could result in at least two years of jail for a
number of teens under a mandatory sentencing law - -- stalled temporarily
yesterday when the pool of jurors ran dry. From a pool of about 50, 12
jurors were seated in Berkshire Superior Court to hear the case of 18-year-old
Kyle Sawin of Otis, who is facing three charges of marijuana distribution and
three charges of selling drugs within a school zone. Jury selection will
continue today with the selection of two more jurors to hear the case; typically
12 jurors and two alternates are seated for jury trials. Eighteen people
were indicted after the drug sweep in Great Barrington last year. Sawin is
one of seven defendants whose cause has been championed by a grass-roots group
known as Concerned Citizens for Appropriate Justice. The group says
mandatory sentencing for a school-zone violation is particularly harsh for
teenagers with no prior records who are accused of selling small amounts of
marijuana. Though testimony did not get under way yesterday, defense
attorney Judith Knight, during pretrial motions before Superior Court Judge John
A. Agostini, indicated she will show that Sawin was a victim of
entrapment, a vulnerable teen with a drug problem. She indicated Sawin
would not have sold drugs were it not for the persistent overtures of undercover
officer Felix Aguirre, who Knight said smoked marijuana with some of the young
people he was doing business with to curry favor. Knight's strategy means
that she has the burden of proof in showing that Sawin was entrapped by police
and that he was not predisposed to selling drugs; the prosecution can respond by
attempting to show that Sawin was, in fact, prone to drug dealing. Her
entrapment defense will include testimony from several witnesses who will first
undergo "voir dire" questioning, without the jury present, before they
testify for jurors. A key witness, Knight indicated, is a substance abuse
and addiction counselor who was working with Sawin before, during and after the
drug investigation carried out by the Berkshire County Drug Task Force.
Knight told Agostini that counselor Maro Hall of the Brien Center would testify
to Sawin's vulnerability and susceptibility to the overtures of Aguirre.
But whether Hall will make it to the witness stand was in question yesterday
during pretrial discussions. The lawyers were in dispute over whether
Knight had given proper notification to the district attorney's office regarding
Hall's testimony and whether she was being called specifically as an expert
witness. Knight said she had given proper notification, but Assistant
District Attorney Richard M. Locke disagreed, and the matter was left
undecided when the arguments concluded yesterday.
Agostini will make a decision on the matter today, when opening arguments and
initial testimony will begin. During a morning of legal debate, Darryl and
Laurie Sawin, Kyle's parents, sat holding hands.
During a break, Laurie Sawin went to her son, a slightly built blond, and gave
him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Locke had made a motion before the
judge that all the witnesses be kept out of the courtroom during the trial,
including Laurie Sawin, but Knight protested, and Agostini allowed her to
remain. Knight also argued for a change of venue in the case because of
pretrial publicity, and Agostini held off until determining whether impartial
jurors could be found. It was a close call. Of the 50 or so initial
jurors to file into the courtroom, almost half raised their hands when asked if
they were familiar with the Great Barrington drug cases. For that reason
and other personal matters, nearly 30 jurors were dismissed after speaking
privately to the lawyers and the judge.
The lawyers challenged nine or 10 others who were eventually seated, with a
total of 12 were seated by lunchtime. The Great Barrington drug sweep,
which focused on the Taconic parking lot off Railroad Street, generated much
controversy in South County and sparked the formation of the Concerned Citizens
for Appropriate Justice. The group generated a petition with some 2,000
signatures against Berkshire County District Attorney David F. Capeless'
decision to seek school-zone violation charges against all defendants in the
drug investigation. The school-zone charge carries a minimum mandatory
jail term of two years. The citizens' group contends that Capeless has
failed to use his power of discretion against defendants with no prior record
who sold small quantities of marijuana. They also have presented research
showing that marijuana-only cases rarely, if ever, are prosecuted in Superior
Court, even if a school-zone charge is pending as well. Such cases are
typically handled at the District Court level, but in this case 18 people were
indicted by a grand jury. Some have more serious drug-dealing charges
pending against them, involving cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine, a powerful
tranquilizer. The Taconic parking lot area is within 1,000 feet of the
Great Barrington Co-operative Preschool and the Searles/Bryant School complex.
For most of last summer, during the peak of the investigation, both of the
schools were closed.
On the witness list read to jurors yesterday were the names of several other
young people charged in last year's drug raid: Justin Cronin, John Rybacki and
Alexandra Brenner. Brenner was charged with a single count of marijuana
distribution, but no school-zone charge was lodged against her. Her case
was handled in Southern Berkshire District Court, and in March was continued
without a finding. Cronin and Rybacki, who will be called by the
prosecution, each have cases pending in Superior Court. Locke told
Agostini yesterday that neither witness had been made any promises in exchange
for their testimony against Sawin. Among the witnesses to be called are
officers from the drug task force, the Great Barrington Police Department, a
Great Barrington selectman and a number of other young people.
