Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact:  213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Oct 1998

CASE WITH FLAWED EVIDENCE DISMISSED

VINITA, Okla.--A judge dismissed a driving-under-the-influence case Friday
against a black man who was busted with what turned out to a bag of
organically grown herbs.

District Judge Harry Wyatt dismissed the case against George Singleton in
the midst of the trial, saying prosecutors hadn't presented enough evidence
for the jury.

Among other things, blood tests showed no evidence of any intoxicating
substance in Singleton's blood. The only prosecution witness was a trooper
who wrote in his report that Singleton was unsteady on his feet and had
bloodshot eyes and slurred speech when he was pulled over.

Singleton's lawyer had claimed that the only reason police pursued the
charge was that Singleton is black and has hip-length dreadlocks.

"It makes us look like a bunch of rednecks," defense attorney James Hadley
said of the case. "This guy was being persecuted rather than prosecuted."

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Alvin Lavender pulled over Singleton, 49, of
Dummerston, Vt., in February, saying he was weaving and speeding.

Lavender seized a bag of what looked like marijuana, but it turned out to be
rosemary and another herb, mullein, that Singleton said he uses to treat his
tuberculosis. The blood tests turned up negative, too, but prosecutors
pursued driving-under-the-influence charges anyway.

The witnesses for the defense included a jailer who said Singleton did not
appear intoxicated when he was booked Feb. 27.

If convicted, Singleton could have gotten a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Singleton helped found Hope-LA-USA in 1992, a national group that tries to
get teen-age gang members involved in organic gardening. He was returning
from working with gangs in California when he was arrested.

Outside the courthouse Thursday, more than a dozen people protested the
trial.

Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

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Checked-by: Don Beck