Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991 TAG: 9102140434
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Attorneys for Javier Marcelo Montes voluntarily dismissed the suit against officer Dave Hammond. The suit had alleged Montes' 1989 arrest on a drug charge was a result of mistaken identity and that the police officer refused to admit he had made a mistake.
"I think the law was just not in our favor," Radford lawyer Jimmy Turk, one of Montes' two attorneys, said Tuesday.
"The law protects police officers who testify before a grand jury and later at a trial. In the way things turned out, [Hammond] just did nothing wrong. We knew we had a very tough row to hoe."
Attorneys for both Montes and Hammond met Monday evening, before Hammond's attorneys had an opportunity to put on their defense.
"I think it's the only case I've been involved in that the plaintiff decided to dismiss his case with prejudice during the course of a trial," said Joseph A. Matthews Jr., one of two attorneys who represented Hammond. "With prejudice" means Montes can't file this suit again.
Montes, 22, was one of 10 people arrested in a 1989 undercover operation. He was indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempting to sell cocaine. The substance was later found to be a harmless white powder.
A Radford Circuit Court jury acquitted Montes in September 1989. He filed the civil lawsuit two months later.
The drug arrest stemmed from a meeting an informant arranged between Hammond and a person named "Jerry" who sold the informant the powder for $525.
Hammond maintained during the criminal trial, and again on Monday, that the person who sold the drugs was Montes - even though testimony from the informant disputed that.
The informant testified Monday that the man who sold the drugs was 6 feet 1 inch tall; had shoulder-length brown hair; and was American. Montes is a foot shorter, has short, dark hair; and is a native of Bolivia.
A number of witnesses testified that Montes was in his dorm room watching television at the time the drug deal was supposedly occurring.
"I think the informant was a problem," Matthews said after the suit was dropped. "We thought all along that Dave Hammond didn't do anything wrong."
"I'm glad it's over with," Hammond said. "I knew once we got the evidence in, that it would come out this way."
Montes, who dropped out of Radford after he was charged, has re-enrolled and is majoring in business and finance.
by CNB