Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jun 2001
Source: Florida Times-Union (FL)
Copyright: 2001 The Florida Times-Union
Contact:  http://www.times-union.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/155
Author: Jim Schoettler
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption)

MAN IN SHOOTOUT WITH OFFICER FREED FROM LIFE SENTENCE

Charges Dropped Over Sinclair Role

Theodis Hagans' life prison sentence for shooting at Jacksonville police 
officer Aric Sinclair was dropped yesterday because prosecutors think 
Sinclair, now indicted in a federal probe of murder, robbery and drug 
selling, may have been acting as an enraged drug dealer and not a pursuing 
officer in the shootout.

Hagans said he is pleased with the action, though he remains bitter that he 
is headed back to prison to serve out an eight-year sentence for hitting a 
courtroom bailiff in 1999. That attack occurred after a jury found Hagans 
guilty in the 1998 shootout.

"It feels wonderful to have a life sentence taken off of me. I never 
thought in a million years it would actually go down like this," Hagans, 
25, told the Times-Union after a brief court hearing. "Had I not been 
wrongly convicted for this, I wouldn't have done what I did to catch that 
[eight-year] sentence."

During the interview, Hagans said he sold crack cocaine for Sinclair and 
then broke off on his own, only to be threatened and shot at by the police 
officer.

Circuit Judge Lance Day agreed yesterday to set aside Hagans' conviction 
and grant a new trial after prosecutor Angela Corey said she had developed 
new evidence that indicated Sinclair may have lied about his reasons for 
chasing after Hagans. After the new trial was granted, Corey then dropped 
the case.

"Under our constitution, the scales of justice are balanced in favor of the 
accused's presumption of innocence," Day wrote in an order granting the 
motion for a new trial. "No accused should stand convicted where this 
presumption has been compromised by what is now reasonably perceived as 
tainted and perjured testimony."

At issue was Hagans' conviction of attempted second-degree murder of a law 
enforcement officer and a jury's finding that Sinclair was "engaged in the 
lawful execution of his duty." Sinclair testified he was after Hagans for 
questioning in a murder and shooting when they met up on an Eastside street 
on March 5, 1998.

But Hagans has claimed since his arrest that Sinclair chased him because he 
had become a competing drug dealer. He also said Sinclair was angry because 
he heard that one of his dealers was robbed of drugs by Hagans.

Sinclair, set to go on trial in October, is in isolation at the Duval 
County jail and couldn't be reached to comment yesterday. One of his 
attorneys, Mark Rosenblum, questioned Hagans' motives for attacking Sinclair.

"As far as I know, there is no independent corroboration of what Hagans is 
saying," Rosenblum said. "That's his story and he's sticking to it. But, 
basically, it's very easy for him to come back now and take advantage of 
the fact that Aric Sinclair has been indicted and is facing these serious 
charges, and to use this situation for his own benefit."

Hagans, who did not testify at his trial, said yesterday he began selling 
crack cocaine for Sinclair, a childhood friend, a week after getting out of 
prison in December 1997 on a robbery conviction. He said that's when he 
learned Sinclair had set up his own network of drug dealers in their 
Eastside neighborhood. Hagans, never arrested for a drug offense, said he 
sold up to 2 ounces of crack cocaine a day for Sinclair before branching 
out on his own three months later.

"I wanted to be a part of that," Hagans said of Sinclair's network. "I felt 
like I could always stay ahead of other police officers if I got a police 
officer on my team. He could always keep me ahead of when the busts were 
going to come. As long as I played by the rules he cited, I would never get 
busted and I would always keep my money and I would always have drugs."

Once he broke away from Sinclair, Hagans said he and the police officer had 
some disagreements over turf. He said he remembers Sinclair threatening him 
with a gun over who was selling drugs where. Hagans said he never ripped 
off Sinclair, but still fears retribution from him for various reasons.

"Aric Sinclair was a mean dude," Hagans said. "Just because he's locked up 
doesn't mean he still doesn't have power."

Hagans' attorneys said they attempted to warn prosecutors about the 
Sinclair-Hagans drug connection after Hagans was arrested, but there was no 
corroborating evidence and prosecutors had no reason to suspect Sinclair. 
Hagans said yesterday that had someone investigated Sinclair, crimes 
alleged in the federal indictment, such as the 1998 robbery and slaying of 
convenience store owner Sami Safar, could have been prevented.

"I was crying out to them, letting them know this dude was crooked," Hagans 
said. "Had anybody paid attention ... maybe Mr. Sami Safar would still be 
living."

Fortune shined on Hagans when Sinclair and three other officers were named 
in the indictment in December and Hagans' attorney, Mark Miller, began 
pushing for a new trial for his client. Corey, who helped convict Hagans, 
agreed to reopen the case and concluded that Sinclair's damaged 
credibility, a lack of an independent witness to the shootout and the 
believability of Hagans' story would likely have led a jury to find Hagans 
not guilty.

"The state acknowledges, and does not dispute, that the evidence now in its 
possession creates a well-founded, reasonable doubt as to whether ... Aric 
Sinclair was acting solely in his capacity as a police officer or was 
himself engaged in unlawful activity under the cloak of his position as a 
police officer," Judge Day wrote.

The case is the second challenge to a prison sentence involving Sinclair 
and allegations that those he was involved in arresting were victims of his 
drug-dealing. A public defender is fighting to get a new trial for Darryl 
Arnold, a convicted drug dealer who claims Sinclair set him up during a 
drug sting in 1998.
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