
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990                   TAG: 9007210144
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

BARRY DEFENSE SAYS WITNESS LIED ON STAND

The defense in the drug and perjury trial of Mayor Marion Barry charged Friday that Charles Lewis, one of the prosecution's most important witnesses, had lied in testimony not only about the mayor's drug activity but also about his own.

Lewis, a twice-convicted drug dealer, testified early in the federal trial that he had been only marginally involved in drug dealing and was acting only as a friend when, according to his testimony, he shared drugs with Barry at a local hotel, the Ramada.

But Barry's lead defense lawyer, R. Kenneth Mundy, contended in court Friday that in fact Lewis had been an active drug dealer who, with several other Washington men, had tried to become an even bigger dealer by "hooking up" with the Edmonds, a Washington family Mundy said was "notorious" for narcotics trafficking.

Because Lewis lied about his own drug activity, Mundy argued, his testimony about Barry should not be believed.

- The New York Times

by CNB