SCHOOL-ZONE LAW BACK IN SPOTLIGHT

Drug Trials Set For This Month

GREAT BARRINGTON - Two more South County defendants facing drug sale
and school-zone charges, in connection with last year's drug
investigation in Great Barrington, are scheduled for trial this month
in Berkshire Superior Court.

Mitchell Lawrence, 18, of Otis, is facing a single charge of selling
marijuana to an undercover police officer, one count of selling drugs
in a school zone and one count of marijuana possession.

Lawrence, in a pre-trial motion in July, delivered an affidavit to
the court stating that while working undercover, Officer Felix
Aguirre bought alcoholic beverages and smoked marijuana with young
people during the Taconic parking lot investigation in the summer of 2004.

Lawrence claimed to have witnessed this activity.

His lawyer, Richard Simons of Pittsfield, was unsuccessful, however,
in his motion seeking access to Aguirre's police personnel records.
He is out of town and could not be reached for comment on the upcoming trial.

Joseph Morandi, 22, of Alford, faces more serious charges of
distributing cocaine (two counts), two counts of selling drugs in a
school zone, one count of conspiracy to sell drugs and one count of
possessing prescription drugs.

Both trials, if they get under way on schedule this month, will be
held before Judge Daniel A. Ford.

The Lawrence and Morandi cases are the first cases to come to court
following the acquittal in September of Kyle Sawin, 18, of Otis, who
went to trial twice on three charges of selling marijuana in a school
zone. His first trial, in July, ended with a mistrial when the jury
could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Sawin had admitted to two drug sales, but contended he was coerced by
Aguirre, the undercover officer.

However, observers in the local legal community, and lawyers
representing other defendants, believe some jurors were swayed by the
entrapment defense raised by Sawin's lawyer, or were averse to
conviction because of the mandatory 2 1/2 year jail term that would
follow a school-zone conviction, even for first offenders.

A lawyer who watched the first trial said the entrapment defense was
not convincing, since Sawin's record of selling drugs was laid out in
testimony from other witnesses. Aguirre and police witnesses appeared
extremely credible, the lawyer said.

Aguirre, a Pittsfield Police officer and member of the Berkshire
County Drug Task Force, is the key police witness in all the pending
drug cases.

The lawyer said the

jury most likely acquitted not because of Aguirre, but because of
unease with the potential sentence, a case of so-called "jury nullification."

That should be a message to District Attorney David Capeless that if
he seeks to punish drug dealing, he should drop the other school-zone
charges for first offenders in exchange for plea agreements on
distribution charges, which could then be punished accordingly, the
lawyer said.

Seven defendants involved in the drug sweep last year were first
offenders with small quantity drug sales; a South County citizens'
group has taken up an aggressive campaign against Capeless' handling
of those cases, but others have rallied to his strong anti-drug stance.

Capeless has the ability to reduce or drop that charge - which some
lawyers say could increase his likelihood of conviction and
punishment - but publicly he has held firm to his intent to fully
prosecute all defendants.

However, two lawyers familiar involved with the Taconic cases say
that following Sawin's trial, Capeless' office began to make
overtures to some defendants, seeking their cooperation in "naming
names, admitting guilt," said one lawyer, who declined to be named
due to a pending case.

While the district attorney's office may be opening the door to
cooperation, sources say there have been no promises or assurances in
exchange for the defendants' cooperation.

Capeless, through his spokesman, declined to comment on the pending
cases for this story.

Seventeen people were charged and indicted last year with drug
selling and school zone violations. Sawin's case was the first to go to trial.

Another defendant, Ryan Babcock, pleaded guilty to more serious
charges earlier this year and has been sentenced to jail.

The Taconic parking lot in Great Barrington is within 1,000 feet of a
local pre-school and the former Searles/Bryant school complex, across
the town's Main Street.