Pubdate: Wed, 17 Jul 2002
Source: Post and Courier, The (SC)
Copyright: 2002 Evening Post Publishing Co.
Contact:   http://www.charleston.net/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/567
Author: Associated Press

HUNDREDS OF DRUG CASES TOSSED OUT

BEAUFORT - Hundreds of Beaufort County drug cases have been thrown out 
because of delays in drug evidence analysis and missing witnesses and 
informants. Deputy prosecutor Steve Knight said the cases had collected 
dust for more than three years because authorities couldn't find 
investigators and witnesses after waiting months for the State Law 
Enforcement Division to analyze drug evidence. Before the county got its 
own regional drug lab in March, results often could take up to a year. 
"Sometimes these cases didn't have the defendants or the evidence because 
the defendants would be bailed out of jail and then it would take SLED a 
long time to analyze the drugs," Beaufort Sheriff P.J. Tanner said. Most of 
the cases that were tossed out involved the Beaufort County Drug Task Force 
going undercover to make a sale, Knight said. "Most of the time, the 
(informant) was gone, moved, or in some cases, even died," he said. 
Officials hope the Beaufort County Regional Drug Lab, which also assists 
Jasper, Hampton and Colleton counties, will keep similar problems from 
happening in the future. The county lab was partly funded by a $100,000 
federal grant and should be able to process drug evidence in a month, said 
Debbie Szpanka, spokeswoman for the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office. "We 
can move faster now to get these cases to court," Knight said. "This 
problem shouldn't happen again or be as dramatic as in the past."
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