Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jan 2004
Source: Charleston Gazette (WV)
Copyright: 2004 Charleston Gazette
Contact:  http://www.wvgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/77
Author: Chris Wetterich
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/calvin+dyess

DRUG KINGPIN'S LAWYER WANTS GRAND JURY TESTIMONY

Affidavits Inconsistent In Dyess Case

A lawyer for convicted drug kingpin Calvin Dyess wants federal
prosecutors to release grand jury testimony they used to indict two
witnesses who testified against him.

In a motion filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Dyess' attorney,
Jane Moran, asked for grand jury testimony used to indict Benjamin E.
Green and Lori Nicole Cummings earlier this month. Moran also wants
all subsequent testimony related to the Dyess case.

Green and Cummings were charged with lying under oath about the amount
of drugs they helped Dyess ship into West Virginia.

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Affidavits that Green and Cummings filed in the summer of 2002 said
Charleston Police Cpl. William Hart coerced them into saying they
brought in specific amounts of cocaine when they couldn't remember the
exact amounts or brought in no cocaine at all.

Those affidavits were inconsistent with grand jury testimony used in
the Dyess case that the pair gave in 1999. The indictment does not
specify which testimony prosecutors believe is false.

Moran said she wants to see the testimony "because I want to determine
what, if any, evidence the government has obtained regarding my
client's case since the last disclosures by the government."

U.S. District Judge Charles Haden II said he wants prosecutors to
weigh in before he decides whether to release the testimony. Assistant
U.S. Attorney Brian Miller said he had no comment on the motion.

The Dyess case was one of the largest drug conspiracies in state
history. Dyess, of Hurricane, is serving a life sentence for importing
more than 100 pounds of marijuana and 200 pounds of crack cocaine into
the Kanawha Valley during the 1990s.

Hart himself faces federal charges. Federal prosecutors have charged
him with allowing Dyess' wife, Rachel Ursula Rader, to keep some of
Dyess' drug money. Rader later divorced Dyess and married Hart, whom
she divorced after three months. The case has not been resolved.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ordered Haden
to reopen the Dyess cases in 2002 after allegations arose that police
and lead investigators stole drugs, tampered with witnesses and
evidence, and lied under oath.

Haden has said he will review the evidence and decide if Dyess and
his co-defendants should be re-sentenced.

Federal prosecutors from Virginia are prosecuting the Dyess-related
cases because Haden disqualified the Charleston U.S. Attorney's
office, saying they might have known about Hart's alleged conduct.
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