HEADLINE: DRUGS TAKEN OUT OF EVIDENCE; COCAINE AND MARIJUANA SIGNED OUT BY A DAVIDSON COUNTY DEPUTY WEREN'T RETURNED, ACCORDING TO COURT DOCUMENTS. 

BYLINE: BY CHERIS HODGES Staff Writer 

DENVER -- Dozens of top secret, crime-scene photos from the Columbine High School massacre, showing the two killers' bodies, their victims and even their bombs, have leaked out. 

Families of some victims are outraged and say the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has failed to keep a promise that the photos would never leave that office.  "People don't want the pictures of their dead kids circulating on the Internet, which it appears likely is what's going to happen," said Brian Rohrbough, whose son Dan was one of the 13 killed when shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold rampaged through the school on April 20, 1999. 

The Rocky Mountain News has copies of a number of the photos, as do some Columbine families.  The sheriff's department has launched an investigation to confirm the authenticity of the photos and to figure out how they could have been leaked, spokeswoman Jacki Tallman said.  "These photos are potentially stolen property if they're determined to be authentic," she said. 
Tallman said families of the victims were being notified about what she called the "unauthorized release" of the photos.  The department is concerned about how the photos could be used, she said.  The photos in some cases match crime-scene diagrams and notes previously released under court order.  Some of the families are sure the pictures came straight from the sheriff's office.  Tallman said 34 agencies were involved in the Columbine investigation, and the photos could have come from any of them. 

A preliminary analysis did show that the sheriff's office had the negative and a printout of at least one photo obtained by the News, Undersheriff John Dunaway said.  Dunaway said that early on in the Columbine investigation, as many as 100 people may have had access to the photos.  That number is now closer to a dozen. 

But he stressed, "Certainly, there was no authorization to release these photos. "

Rohrbough, who has seen the photos, said that Jefferson County has fought the parents on release of much of the Columbine investigation.  But, somehow, the most graphic of the crime-scene documents have become public, and he believes the photos came from that office. 

"The stuff that can hurt you, (Jefferson County) will gladly dole out the back door," he said. 

Rohrbough declined to say how he got the photos.  "I certainly didn't steal them," he said. 

Rohrbough and Dawn Anna, whose daughter Lauren Townsend was killed at Columbine, said the sheriff's department promised the photos would never be made public.  Lead Columbine investigator Kate Battan assured the families that the photos were under tight security, Rohrbough said.  His family was told that photos were destroyed after they were printed, that negatives or other originals were kept under lock and key in the sheriff's evidence vault, and officers used a photo lab inside the sheriff's department. 

HEADLINE: DRUGS TAKEN OUT OF EVIDENCE; COCAINE AND MARIJUANA SIGNED OUT BY A DAVIDSON COUNTY DEPUTY WEREN'T RETURNED, ACCORDING TO COURT DOCUMENTS. 

BYLINE: BY CHERIS HODGES Staff Writer 

Cocaine and marijuana taken off the streets of Davidson County were stolen from an evidence room by a sheriff's deputy, court documents state.  Former deputy Douglas Edward Westmoreland - one of the three deputies who pleaded guilty to federal drug charges Thursday - signed out 60 pounds of marijuana and 2 kilograms of cocaine from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office's evidence room about Jan.  24, 2001, according to the documents. 

He and another former deputy, David Scott Woodall, discussed selling the marijuana, but it is unclear what they did with the cocaine.  One thing is certain, the documents stated: The drugs were never returned to the evidence room. 

The three former deputies - William Monroe Rankin, 32; Woodall, 34; and Westmoreland, 49 - along with former Archdale police officer Chris Shetley, 35, and Lexington residents Wyatt Kepley, 26, and Marco Aurelio Acosta Soza, 23, pleaded guilty to federal drug charges Thursday in federal court. 

Political rivals of Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege say he shoulders some of the blame for what his former deputies did.  Roy Holman of Lexington, a longtime political foe of Hege and current candidate for sheriff, said Thursday he blames Hege for the actions of his deputies.  "He's not been tending to the store," Holman said.  "He's been busy doing all of this promotional stuff that has nothing to do with being sheriff. "

In December, Hege said through his public information officer that he had an officer who performed unannounced inspections of evidence.  He said evidence is documented from the time it is brought to the sheriff's office until the case is resolved. 

Hege declined to comment further on the drug case.  Hege's public information officer said the sheriff strictly enforces the code of ethics. "Sheriff Hege is very strict and enforces the rules to the extreme, including the wearing of hats, lying, cursing, etc. ," the December release stated.  Since the arrest of the deputies, more than 80 drug charges have been dropped against defendants in Davidson County. 

District Attorney Garry Frank is seeking to overturn a drug case against Darick Owens of Thomasville.  Owens spent 50 days in jail before being sentenced to two years' probation, which ends in November. 

A convicted Lexington drug dealer has asked for a new trial because the same three deputies arrested him. 

George Branham Jr., 18, was sentenced to 14 years in prison last year after a jury convicted him of possession and trafficking of LSD. 

According to court documents, the jailed deputies were witnesses against Branham during his trial. 

BELLEFONTE -- A former Ferguson Township detective claims his gambling problem grew so uncontrollable that one time, he couldn't pay a bridge toll after a trip to a New Jersey casino. 

Robert McClure, who eventually stole $3,500 from the department evidence room to support his habit, asserts that colleagues should have seen trouble coming because they were with him on at least three organized all-expenses-paid casino trips.  On Monday, he used that argument, attempting to have his prison sentence -- 111/2 to 23 months in county jail -- reduced for one count of felony theft by unlawful taking. 

"The first time I ever gambled, we went on a (police) training trip," McClure testified during his post-sentence hearing, telling how he lost $500 on his trip to the slot machines.  "On our bulletin board at work, you'd come in and there would be a flier for a free trip to Atlantic City. " 

Soon, he was going on a few trips, some of which were sponsored by the local Fraternal Order of Police, and he lost more and more money over time.  With the losses came growing panic attacks that, at their worst, kept him out of work for nearly two months.  Prior financial problems and alcohol didn't help, he said.  "My problems were very well known within the department," he testified, noting that he told co-workers about the time he couldn't pay the New Jersey bridge toll.  "We'd sit at lunch, and they would basically joke about it. "

Although colleagues said they were aware he couldn't pay back a prior loan and had to declare bankruptcy, they didn't think it was because of a few trips to casinos.  McClure estimates that he lost between $500 to $1,000 on the trips, and that he used the stolen money for an other gambling junket.   Detective John Conti testified that McClure never told him that gambling was a reason for declaring bankruptcy, and that he tried to offer financial advice. 

"I told (McClure) he should not go down there," Conti said of the off-hours gambling trips that he organized for the FOP.  "I always said (to people) that you take money you feel you would not come back with.  Everyone should set their own limit.  . . .  I talked with him about that. "

Still, Conti said McClure continued to spend foolishly and joked one time that he might get someone to throw him down the department's steps so that an injury would be work-related.  "His attitude in general toward (money) was that he felt it was the American way to get what he could get from the deepest pockets," Conti said. 

McClure joined the department in January 1995 and was named a detective in September 1998.  It was then he became the department's evidence custodian and was given one of two restricted-use keys for the evidence room. 

In November 2000, McClure ordered duplicates of those keys made, turning in the originals before he left the department on Jan.  5 to move to Virginia.  Police said that two weeks later, McClure talked with two former colleagues in the department's parking lot, and after they left, he used his duplicate keys to enter the building and take the cash. 

Although McClure's wife testified that she asked Chief Edward Connor for help, he said they talked about the officer's problems in general, but "nothing specific. " "I think the gambling is a smoke screen to his excesses and everything he's done that's inappropriate," Connor said. 
The couple both testified that if McClure is sent to prison, they will lose their rental home, and their 9-year-old son will have to switch schools again. 

Gricar pointed out that Mc Clure agreed to enter his plea, knowing that a Gricar dropped charges of burglary and tampering with records against McClure. 

McClure's attorney, Joseph Amendola, will have 20 days to file a memorandum to Judge David E.  Grine, who will then issue a ruling on McClure's motion to reduce the sentence.  McClure, who paid the stolen money back before his sentencing, remains free on bail pending the case's outcome. 

HEADLINE: Three accused of stealing marijuana out on bond 

DATELINE: PITTSBORO, N. C. 

Three men indicted on federal charges involving stolen marijuana from the old Chatham County landfill have been released on $10,000 bail each. 

Scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a. m.  Monday in U. S.  District Court in Greensboro are Jodie Mitchell Brafford, 31, of Goldston; James Benjamin Harris, 35, and Gary Leslie Causey, 39, both of Snow Camp. The three turned themselves in midday Tuesday to U. S.  marshals in Winston-Salem. 

Brafford, a former Chatham County backhoe driver who helped deputies bury a ton of marijuana at the landfill before it was stolen in September 2000, was charged with distributing about 80 pounds of the drug, according to the federal indictment.  Harris and Causey were charged with conspiring to sell more than 110 pounds of the drug. 

The FBI has been investigating the theft of 5,000 pounds of marijuana that the sheriff's office helped seize during an undercover sting in February 2000.  Three-fifths was taken from a surplus Army truck parked behind the department, and the rest from a shallow pit at the county landfill. 

HEADLINE: Badge Happy - In Jefferson County, lots of folks want to be the new sheriff in town. 

BYLINE: By Alan Prendergast 

Four years ago, the race for Jefferson County sheriff attracted about as much attention as a quilting bee in Punkin Center.  The campaign, which pitted a powerful Republican county commissioner against a little-known Arvada police commander running as an independent, produced few fireworks and had a predictable outcome. 

This time around, the candidates' forums are packed to the rafters -- with candidates, if not potential voters. 

By last week, the number of officially declared applicants vying for the sheriff's badge in the November election had swelled to ten.  And there may be more to come: The incumbent, John P.  Stone, has yet to announce whether he will seek a second term. 

One reason for the surging interest in the job is Stone's perceived vulnerability in the wake of the 1999 shootings by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold at Columbine High School, in which fifteen people died and two dozen more were injured.  Although Stone handily survived a recall effort two years ago, his office has been the target of relentless criticism and lawsuits from victims' families over its handling of the investigation, which has been marred by police misstatements, missing evidence and embarrassing leaks of sensitive photos, videotapes and files ("There Ought to Be a Law," March 7). 

The nine Republicans and one Democrat currently running for the top law-enforcement job in the GOP-heavy county include a gun-shop owner, an ex-legislator, several former Jeffco deputies, a former New York welfare-fraud investigator, a former Routt County sheriff, a lieutenant in the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office and an investigator for the Jeffco District Attorney's Office.  So far, the candidates haven't hammered much on the Columbine debacle specifically, preferring to speak in general terms about the need for a sheriff who will inspire "trust" and "confidence" among voters. 

"I'm not running against John; I'm running for the office," says Russ Cook, Golden's police chief, who was among the first to declare his candidacy.  "Eventually, there will have to be some resolution to the Columbine issue, but there are many other issues." 

Yet Columbine could become a more visible campaign topic with the arrival of the latest candidate, Littleton businessman Steve Schweitzberger.  A maverick contender in the 1983 and 1991 Denver mayoral elections, Schweitzberger is also a Columbine parent who's been a steady presence at public forums regarding the shootings, stumping for various governmental reforms.  But even Schweitzberger, who has no law-enforcement background, says he isn't running simply because of the tragedy. 

"To me, it's not so much about Sheriff Stone and Columbine as that the aftermath of Columbine brought a lot of problems to our attention," he says.  "I think Stone is ineffective at this point.  He can't do his job because of Columbine." 

A Vietnam veteran, Schweitzberger says he decided to run because he felt as if he were "dodging the draft. " When he attended a candidates' forum not long ago, he explains, "I heard a bunch of nothing. " 

Cook suggests that the forums have drawn only a narrow sampling of the public thus far.  "There've been lots of questions about the Constitution," he says.  "Lots of interest in firearms issues, like conceal-carry permits.  But when it comes to asking about your command experience, dealing with inmates, how to handle traffic and budget and manpower and services to the public, those questions have been nonexistent to date. "With the field so crowded, he adds, "I have to figure out how to get my message out." 

Schweitzberger's evolving platform includes pushing technology, such as increased use of non-lethal weaponry and cameras in patrol cars.  His lack of previous police experience shouldn't be a deciding factor, he insists.  "I don't even know how to put on a handcuff," he admits.  "But the undersheriff is going to have a lot of responsibility for day-to-day operations." 

Stone, a former Lakewood police officer, had been out of law enforcement for twelve years when he ran for sheriff.  But his three terms as county commissioner had made him a force to be reckoned with in county politics, even though his predecessor as sheriff, Ron Beckham, endorsed the rival candidate, Arvada commander Ted Mink.  After he was elected, Stone had to take peace-officer recertification courses; he had been in office less than four months when Harris and Klebold launched their attack on Columbine. 

Republican insiders don't rule out the possibility that Stone may yet make a bid for a second term before the county assembly in May.  Recent revelations that Columbine crime-scene photos have been leaked to the media may make his campaign more difficult (see "Colorado Legislators Play It Safe,").  But he also has the advantages of incumbency and name recognition -- including the sobriquet adopted by sniping pundits, Sheriff Stonewall. 

Whether Stone re-ups or not, Schweitzberger plans to keep running.  And if he's knocked out of the Republican primary, he intends to pursue the office as a write-in candidate.  "If they want me," he says, "I'm available. " 

HEADLINE: 3 due in court in drug theft 

BYLINE: Angela Heywood Bible, Staff Writer 

PITTSBORO -- Three men indicted on federal charges involving stolen marijuana from the old Chatham County landfill in September 2000 have been released on $ 10,000 bail each.  Scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a. m.  Monday in U. S.  District Court in Greensboro are Jodie Mitchell Brafford, 31, of 436 Wall Road, Goldston; James Benjamin Harris, 35, of 8347 Holman Mill Road, and Gary Leslie Causey, 39, of 225 Sheep Rock Road, both in Snow Camp.  The three turned themselves in midday Tuesday to U. S. marshals in Winston-Salem. 

Brafford, a former Chatham County backhoe driver who helped deputies bury a ton of marijuana at the landfill before it was stolen, was charged with distributing about 80 pounds of the drug, according to the federal indictment.  Harris and Causey were charged with conspiring to sell more than 110 pounds of the drug. 

The FBI has been investigating the theft of 5,000 pounds of marijuana that the sheriff's office helped seize during an undercover sting in February 2000.  Three-fifths was taken from surplus Army truck parked behind the department, and the rest from a shallow pit at the county landfill. Brafford worked as a utilities services technician with the Chatham County Water Department from July 1994 until he resigned in August 2001, said Carolyn Chandre, county human resources manager. Ron Singleton, Chatham County director of public works, saidBrafford was a good employee. "He was one of the ones we could always count on when we needed someone to work over[time] or to go the extramile," Singleton said.  "We hated to lose him. "Still, the indictments didn't surprise Singleton. 

"There had been some rumors that had been floating around," he said, "so I don't guess I was completely shocked." 

Chief Deputy Randy Keck, who as chief narcotics officer orchestrated the burial of the marijuana, said he suspected someone working at the landfill might be implicated in the theft. "I figured it had to be somebody in the county that was there, that knew" where the marijuana was buried, Keck said. 

On Feb. 8, 2000, a Chatham County narcotics team seized about5,000 pounds of marijuana from a barn three miles southwest of Siler City, and deputies stored the bundles in a truck behind the department. More than seven months later, Keck drove the truck to the landfill to bury the drugs.  Once there, he noticed that three-fifths of the marijuana was missing.  The truck's side window had a sliding metal cover over wire mesh, which had been cut.  Keck drove to the sheriff's department to report the theft, then returned to the landfill and buried the remaining marijuana. Weeks later, officials noticed that the buried marijuana also had been stolen. 

In March 2001, a federal agent told Sheriff Ike Gray that thumb had recovered some of the marijuana stolen from the landfill, though he didn't say how much.   In a news conference June 12, federal agents announced they were concluding their investigation into the theft from the landfill and expected to arrest as many as 10 suspects within two weeks.  Now, nine months later, three men have been indicted. "I expected more," Gray said. 

HEADLINE: Officer suspended on theft charge; Stolen items, including a city dump truck, were found on his property. 

BYLINE: Shawn McGrath

An 11-year veteran of the Fort Wayne Police Department arrested Tuesday on charges he possessed stolen property - including a city of Fort Wayne dump truck - may be connected to November 2000 thefts from a police garage filled with confiscated property. 

Officer Tobin V.  Ray, 42, who was booked into Adams County Jail about 2 p. m. , is held without bond. 

Indiana State Police recovered more than $250,000 of stolen property - including trailers, machinery, computer equipment and mowers - from Ray's rural Decatur home, said Sgt.  Rodger Popplewell. Among the items was a city of Fort Wayne dump truck, said Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York.  Ray has had the truck at least three years, and used the truck while a member of the horse patrol, York said.  "Officers swear an oath to uphold the law and he violated that," York said.  "It's up to a jury of his peers to determine if he's guilty, but I've seen enough over 25 years that I want him in an unpaid position as soon as possible. "

The Indiana State Police began investigating Ray a month ago, after an investigation by Decatur detectives linked the purchase of a stolen trailer to Ray, said Popplewell.  York said Ray was immediately suspended with pay.  York said he will ask the Board of Public Safety to put Ray on unpaid leave as soon as possible.  If convicted of the Class C felony, Ray could face two to eight years in prison. 

York said Ray is believed connected to the November 2000 theft of property from a garage near the Police Department's Creighton Avenue headquarters that was used for temporary storage.  "There's evidence that some of that was found at his residence in Decatur," York said.  "A considerable amount of equipment and vehicles were found on his property. "

About 50 people, including civilian contractors and police officers, had access to the police garage.  Items stolen included a 27-inch television and computer parts.  The property, valued at about $1,000 and considered abandoned, was confiscated during a raid of a Fort Wayne drug house.  Unable to find a prime suspect, the investigation was closed in June.  The garage is no longer used to store confiscated property. 

Ray joined the department in June 1990, and was a first-shift patrol officer.  He served with Indiana Excise Police for 2 1/2 years before that, and as an officer with Decatur Police Department for 6 1/2 years.  "I think he just had ambitions of joining a bigger department," said Decatur Police Chief Ken Ketzler.  "He had always seemed very competent. "

Ketzler said he was "extremely" surprised by Ray's arrest.  He said Ray's wife, Michelle Ray, a 10-year member of the Decatur Police Department, had no knowledge of her husband's alleged illegal activities.  "We have no reason to believe she has anything to do with this," Ketzler said.  "She is not under investigation.  She had no idea. "Ketzler said he offered Michelle Ray a leave of absence, but she declined. 

Tobin Ray received a letter of commendation from the Fort Wayne Police Department in May 1994 for his work with other officers in capturing two armed robbery suspects responsible for a string of tavern robberies. 

Plum Gone Gun

A handgun being held in the Plum Police Department evidence locker is missing, and the Plum and Pennsylvania State Police have begun an investigation. 

Plum Acting Chief Matt Feldmeier said that when the owner of the gun, Jerry Burch, appeared at the police offices March 12 to claim the Colt 45 model 1911 pistol it could not be found on an inventory list nor with the confiscated guns police have. 

The gun was confiscated May 11, 2000. 

Authorities were holding the gun after Burch was served a protection from abuse order several years ago.  Feldmeier said it was standard practice to confiscate any registered weapons from people served with PFAs. 

Burch had since cleared up those legal problems. 

HEADLINE: Police worker accused of theft 

By J. M.  KALIL

Prosecutors approved charges Wednesday against a civilian North Las Vegas police employee accused of stealing more than 2 ounces of seized cocaine from the department's evidence vault. 
Authorities began an investigation of evidence custodian Geneva Kincaid and her husband, a North Las Vegas police lieutenant, when Henderson police arrested the couple's teen-age son more than three weeks ago on suspicion of trafficking cocaine, Clark County prosecutors said. 
Under questioning, 18-year-old Joshua Kincaid told Henderson officers he got the drugs from his mother, Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Bowman said.  her son claims he stole it out of her purse,' Bowman said. 

The Henderson Police Department passed that information on to police in North Las Vegas, who started an investigation and discovered 57 1/2 grams of cocaine were missing from the vault where Geneva Kincaid works. 

North Las Vegas police spokesman Lt.  Art Redcay said that she was placed on paid administrative leave Feb.  26, and that the investigation led police to seek criminal charges against the 40-year-old woman.  Redcay said after a cursory review of the evidence, investigators determined Lt.  Mike Kincaid had no involvement in the theft and did not suspect his wife of stealing the narcotics.  Redcay said police expect to conduct a more thorough Internal Affairs Bureau investigation of the matter.  Redcay said the incident has shaken the department. 
It's an absolute surprise,' he said.  'This is a tight-knit department.  The Kincaids are friends of mine.  We didn't want to believe it, but unfortunately there's some findings against her. ' According to court records, police officers served a search warrant Feb.  24 on Joshua Kincaid's residence at the Green Valley Country Club apartments, near Windmill and Green Valley parkways on the Legacy golf course.  The officers, who were seeking the 18-year-old and another person in connection with graffiti incidents across Henderson, kicked in the door after hearing someone inside who refused to answer their knocks, according to a police report. 

The officers entered, handcuffed Joshua Kincaid and searched the apartment, the report said. They found substances that later tested positive as marijuana and cocaine in a toilet, the report said.  Next to the toilet, officers found a shoe box containing drug paraphernalia, a metal scale, and an identification card and paycheck stubs bearing Joshua Kincaid's name.  'Kincaid stated that he was attempting to flush the drugs down the toilet but was unable to get the toilet to operate,' Joshua Kincaid's arrest report said. 

In a police interview later, the teen said he got the cocaine from his mother, a Henderson police source said.  Chief Deputy District Attorney Tom Carroll said rather than arrest and jail Geneva Kincaid, North Las Vegas authorities will issue a summons for her to appear in court May 1 to face felony counts of high-level trafficking of a controlled substance and embezzlement. 

A high-level trafficking conviction would carry a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years.  The charge can be brought if a suspect has possession of more than 28 grams of certain controlled substances.  Embezzlement carries a potential prison term of one to five years. 

 North Las Vegas police are conducting an audit of their evidence vault to determine whether any other evidence bags have been emptied, Redcay said.

The disappearance of the cocaine will not derail an unrelated criminal prosecution for lack of evidence, police and prosecutors said.  The cocaine was seized by North Las Vegas police in connection with an older case and was marked for destruction. 

HEADLINE: Plea results in probation for former county sheriff 

BYLINE: Ed Godfrey, Staff Writer 

A former Haskell County sheriff has been placed on probation after pleading guilty to embezzlement and larceny, prosecutor said Wednesday.  Under a plea agreement, Jimmy E.  Terrell, 53, of Keota admitted selling property of the Haskell County Sheriff's Department and pocketing the money, said Lynn Anderson, assistant district attorney in Sequoyah County.  Terrell took office in 1997 and resigned as sheriff in June 2000. 

In exchange for guilty pleas to three counts of embezzlement and two counts of larceny, Terrell received a five-year suspended sentence, Anderson said.  Two mobile radios belonging to the sheriff's department were sold by Terrell to the Panama Police Department for about $ 500, the prosecutor said.  He said Terrell kept the money.  He also used $ 650 of public funds to buy an engine from a salvage yard for his personal use, Anderson said. 

Terrell also spent $ 350 to buy gasoline for his personal vehicle using the county's gas card, the prosecutor said.  The larceny counts involve the sale of two pistols by Terrell to a Sallisaw pawn shop.  One belonged to the sheriff's arsenal.  The other came from the sheriff department's evidence room. 

Charges of making false declarations to a pawnbroker were dropped in Sequoyah County in exchange for the guilty pleas, Anderson said.  Terrell must pay a total of $ 1,982 in restitution to the sheriff’s office and the pawnshop. 

HEADLINE: Evidence rising of space crunch for crime items; DNA advances, laws force huge expansion of storage facilities; Police face growing burden 

BYLINE: Allison Klein 

At a time when police departments - and defense attorneys - rely more and more heavily on crime scene DNA, law enforcement officials face a practical problem: what to do with the mounds of material piling up in police evidence rooms, from eating utensils and blood-stained carpets to tell-tale weapons with fingerprints.  "We just don't have the space down here to keep all that evidence," said Ed Koch, director of the Baltimore Police Department's crime lab.  "It's a phenomenal amount of evidence. "

And if proposed legislation passes in the General Assembly, police will have no choice but to make more room for evidence. The pending bill would require all DNA evidence to be kept for the duration of the prison sentence of the person convicted of the crime, unless all agree it should be destroyed.  Current law requires such evidence be kept for three years. 

In jurisdictions where the annual homicide totals hover at one or two digits - such as Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties - keeping the evidence for homicide and rape cases is manageable.  Both counties maintain all such evidence indefinitely, regardless of whether a suspect has been convicted, served prison time or died. 

But in Baltimore, which recorded 259 killings in 2001, police are hard-pressed to find space for increasing evidence loads. 

Last year alone, the department collected 400,000 pieces of evidence from 75,000 cases, an increase of almost 10 percent from a decade ago. 

This year, Koch said, the caseload is expected to surge to at least 85,000 because of more aggressive policing, especially for drug violations.  In addition, the city maintains evidence from pending cases and from 5,000 unsolved homicides and rapes that go back to the early 1900s.  The evidence cache in the basement of Baltimore's downtown police headquarters on Fayette Street has expanded in recent years to a room in another police building - as well as to a complex of outdoor trailers in an undisclosed, guarded location. 

Even that may not be enough for long.  Koch has identified 72,000 square feet of warehouse space, on Russell Street and in Locust Point, that would provide temporary space for expansion.  They could be filled within 10 years, Koch said. 

As of October, Baltimore police stopped destroying DNA evidence, expecting that cases may be reopened and the evidence needed, Koch said.  That action anticipated a new state law, which took effect in January, allowing criminal cases to be reopened at any time based on new DNA evidence.  That means police are now holding onto more evidence than ever.  "We can't give money back to a victim's family if it has blood on it," Koch said, because of the DNA implications.  "You also have stolen guns that are used in crimes you can't give back. "

And the macabre flood would likely increase under the evidence-retention requirements now moving through the General Assembly.  The proposal recently was folded into a bill requiring anyone convicted of a violent crime to give a DNA sample to police.  The state Senate approved the combined bill Thursday; the House of Delegates approved an earlier version of the bill but would still have to approve the revised version. 

"The main thing we wanted was preservation of evidence, and this bill does that," said Del.  Lisa A.  Gladden, a Baltimore Democrat and a sponsor of an early version of the bill, which had as its main sponsor Del.  Ann Marie Doory, another Baltimore Democrat.

Sen.  George Della, also a Baltimore Democrat and a sponsor of the Senate version, called it "a common-sense law that will bring the law into conformity with the technology we have today. "
Advocates around the country have been pushing for DNA retention laws for years. 

"Making sure the evidence is not destroyed is vital," said Huy Dao, assistant director of New York-based Innocence Project, which has helped to free about 50 prisoners across the country based on DNA evidence.  "It's insanely frustrating to close a case because evidence was destroyed or lost. " 

In 1993, Kirk Bloodsworth, of Cambridge was cleared by DNA testing and released from prison after serving nine years - including seven on death row - in the killing of a 9-year-old Rosedale girl. "I'm in favor of keeping evidence if it will exonerate somebody," Koch said.  "We'll hold onto everything we need to. "

And preservation of evidence can be important to prosecutors as well. 

This month, a Pikesville man was retried on murder charges after his first conviction was thrown out on appeal.  All the physical evidence was accidentally destroyed after Keith Brown's first trial in 1996 on charges of shooting his 19-year-old pregnant mistress. 

In his first trial, Brown was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.  In the retrial, Brown was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced last week to 35 years in prison.  He will be eligible for parole in 13 years. 

While prosecutors, defense lawyers and politicians agree on the importance of preserving DNA evidence, it remains up to the police to cope with complications of storing it. 

Under the legislation, Koch said, police would not be able to destroy or return to a victim's family anything with DNA on it.  That includes a driver's license with a drop of blood on it, a gear shift with fingerprints or eyeglasses with saliva. 

"When you start looking, you think DNA could be on this, DNA could be on that," Koch said. 
The implications of such a law are on display in California, which has laws preventing destruction of DNA evidence for the length of a felon's prison term.  That law is causing headaches for large cities such as Los Angeles. 

"Space is an issue, it is always something we battle with," said Christine Sanders, a forensic DNA analyst for the Los Angeles Police Department.  "We have huge walk-in freezers and refrigerators and about three or four refrigerated trucks.  This is just a short-term plan. "
Sun staff writer Sarah Koenig contributed to this article. 

HEADLINE: Beware of Informants 

BEWARE OF informants! As recent cases demonstrate, one of the riskiest situations for a criminal defendant is when the prosecution relies on a confidential informant. 

All too often, defense counsel fail to obtain from prosecutors the information they need to challenge the informant's testimony.  As a result, jurors hear from witnesses who, while admittedly not Boy Scouts, are credible enough to seal the defendant's conviction. Jurors never hear the reasons why an informant should not be believed. 

Moreover, in cases where confidential informants are not needed to testify, jurors never have an opportunity to evaluate how an informant has influenced an investigation and the prosecutor's overall decisions in the case. 

It is crucial for defense counsel to challenge as much as possible the testimony and role of government informants. To do so, defense counsel must get their hands on information regarding an informant. This information can range from the informant's prior criminal records to cooperation deals the informant has made with the prosecution. 

The problem for defense counsel is that a mere request for impeachment and exculpatory materials rarely gets the job done. Rather, it is not unusual for defense counsel to have to fight tooth and nail for access to information that prosecutors and their law enforcement agents should automatically be giving to the defense. 

Under the Supreme Court's decisions in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S.  83 (1963), and Giglio v.  United States, 405 U. S.  150 (1972), prosecutors are constitutionally required to provide all exculpatory evidence to the defense, as well as evidence the defense can use to impeach prosecution witnesses. Failure to provide such information may constitute a due process violation if the evidence is material to the defense and prejudice results from a failure to disclose. 

However, too many prosecutors appear to be willing to take their chances by failing to make a full disclosure of the activities and backgrounds of their informants. A classic example is the recent case of Benn v.  Lambert, 2002 U. S.  App.  Lexis 2899 (9th Cir.  Feb.  26, 2002). 

In 1988, the state of Washington charged Gary Michael Benn with the premeditated murder of his half-brother, Jack Dethlefsen, and his half-brother's friend, Michael Nelson. Both men were shot to death in the living room of Dethlefsen's home. Defendant Benn was actually the person to call 911 over the shootings. The sheriff sent to investigate found the victims' bodies still warm and bleeding, and a. 45-caliber handgun on the floor with a baseball bat next to Dethlefsen's body. 

Benn admitted shooting the victims, but he claimed self-defense. He contended that during a confrontation regarding Dethlefsen's conduct toward Benn's ex-girlfriend, Dethlefsen reached for a gun on his coffee table. Benn grabbed the gun first and shot Dethlefsen in self-defense. Nelson then threw a beer can at Benn and Benn shot him too. 

The key witness for the prosecution's case was Roy Patrick, a jailhouse informant who shared a cell with Benn while Benn was awaiting trial. According to Patrick, Benn confessed to him that he had murdered the victims and asked for Patrick's help to find someone "on the outside" who would be willing to take the blame for the murders. Patrick readily repeated the details Benn allegedly shared regarding the murder. He readily convinced the jury that Benn was a cold-blooded murderer. 

Based upon Patrick's testimony, prosecutors claimed at trial that Benn's motive for the killings was to silence Dethlefsen and Nelson, who knew about Benn's alleged involvement in a plot to conduct arson for insurance proceeds. Patrick also testified that Benn wanted to kill Dethlefsen because Dethlefsen had removed Benn from his will. 

Finally, Patrick said Benn told him that he had tried to hire someone to kill Dethlefsen, but changed his mind and decided to do the murder himself. However, according to Patrick, Benn wanted someone to kill the potential hit man to prevent him from testifying against Benn at trial. As the trial judge acknowledged. Patrick's testimony was the heart of the prosecution's case. 

The defense strategy was to impeach Patrick. The problem was that the prosecution had failed to disclose information in its possession that would have been invaluable in this strategy. In fact, the prosecutor waited until the day before trial to even reveal that Patrick would be a witness, falsely claiming that disclosure had to be delayed because Patrick was in a witness protection program. 

Even though the defense made repeated requests for Brady material, and the trial court ordered the prosecution to turn over information relating to Patrick's contacts with law enforcement, no such material was ever produced. The defense was never informed that Patrick had been deactivated as an informant because he could not be trusted and was using drugs. Benn's lawyer was never told that, while serving as an informant, Patrick had broken into the police evidence room and stolen drugs from previous busts. 

The prosecutor also never told defense counsel that Patrick had made false charges when he was in prison on different charges eight years earlier. To make those charges against others for firearms smuggling, Patrick himself had arranged for the weapons to be smuggled into the prison. 

The prosecutor further failed to disclose that Patrick had conned police into paying $ 150 for a nonexistent videotape that he claimed showed Benn murdering a prostitute. Likewise, the prosecutor didn't even bother to tell the defense that Patrick managed to get himself arrested during trial, but the prosecutor arranged for him to be released without being charged. Finally, the prosecutor did not share with the defense that Patrick had been an informant in a prior murder case where he claimed, as in Benn's case, that the defendant had confessed to him while in jail. 

In addition to not disclosing impeachment materials regarding Patrick, the prosecutor never disclosed that there was evidence-exculpating Benn of the arson-for-fraud allegation that formed the alleged motive for his murder case. Instead, the prosecutor did everything possible to protect Patrick and the prosecution's theory of the case. 

Noting the importance of full disclosure of impeachment and exculpatory materials in a case involving an informant, the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision to grant Benn's petition for writ of habeas corpus. It found that "[analyzed] collectively, the withheld impeachment [revealed] that Patrick, a critical witness for the state, was 'completely unreliable, a liar for hire, [and] ready to perjure himself for whatever advantage he could squeeze out of the system. '"

It is troubling that a case like Benn's exists, but it is even more alarming that it does not stand-alone. Not only are defendants denied impeachment and exculpatory materials regarding informants, they are also denied the discovery necessary to challenge the testimony of victims and law enforcement officers. A few months before Benn, two appellate courts on the other side of the nation held that prosecutors had violated Brady by failing to disclose exculpatory evidence. 

In Boyette v.  Lefevre, 246 F. 3d 76 (2d Cir. 2001), the 2d Circuit held that New York prosecutors committed Brady error by failing to disclose that the only witness who could link the defendant to a brutal assault had initially given a description of her attacker that did not fit the defendant. 

In fact, the witness's initial description would have eliminated Robert Boyette as a suspect. Prosecutors exacerbated that error by failing to mention that they had another possible suspect for the attack. As in Benn, when the trial is essentially a one-witness case, the court held that the nondisclosure seriously undermined "confidence in the outcome of the trial. "

At nearly the same time, in State v. Parson, 341 N. J.  Super.  448, 775 A. 2d 576 (2001), judges in New Jersey chastised New Jersey prosecutors for failing to disclose exculpatory information material to a defendant's decision to plead guilty. 

In Parson, a confidential informant told police that defendant Phillip Parsons was selling drugs from his apartment. One of the officers sent to search the defendant's apartment was himself under investigation for narcotics trafficking. Yet prosecutors never disclosed this information or the officer's personnel file to the defense. The appellate court held that the information should have been disclosed and that failure to do so substantially affected the defendant's ability to muster a defense, even though the defendant ultimately pleaded guilty. 

Though it has been 30 years since Brady, prosecutors are still failing to comply with their constitutional disclosure duties, including cases that involve confidential informants. Defense lawyers can try various avenues to obtain Brady material from the prosecution. These efforts may range from an informal request, to a formal motion for discovery, to the employment of defense investigators. Prosecutors, on the other hand, continue to be reluctant to make disclosure, fearing that the defense will confuse or intimidate their witnesses. Minimal witness data for defense to request

Ultimately, the integrity of the criminal justice system relies upon prosecutors adhering to their constitutional duty. Yet defense counsel need not be passive or naive. As recent cases demonstrate, they should request at least the following information regarding all government witnesses: the witness's prior criminal record; any incentives paid, promised or discussed with the witness; any notes of statements by the witness; and the witness's prior history of cooperation with law enforcement. 

Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the temptation for a witness to manufacture evidence continues to increase. One of the few ways to avoid the harsh impact of the current sentencing laws is to provide "substantial assistance" to the prosecution. 

Informants are eager to provide information and prosecutors are anxious to receive it, even if they must discount any unfavorable evidence it contains. 

Yet, as Judge Stephen S.  Trott noted in his concurrence in Benn, how is not the time to relax Brady standards. If anything, prosecutors need to be reminded that "unlawfully withholding patently damaging and damning impeachment evidence .  .  .  [is] reprehensible conduct [that] shames our judicial system. "

Much attention is focused these days on the use of DNA in exonerating defendants. The truth is that there are many more cases, like Benn, where DNA results would be of no use. When the issue is intent or self-defense, the issue for the jury is the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses. 

Prosecutors have the responsibility to ensure that defense counsel can provide the jury with all relevant information regarding these determinations. Confidential informants tend to tell only one-half of the story.