Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 23, 1991 TAG: 9103230125
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser granted a defense attorney's motion for dismissal, saying there were flaws in evidence that Neely had conspired with two court reporters to defraud the U.S. government by leaking secret grand jury information.
Kiser focused his ruling on the defense's argument that the grand jury that investigated the charges should have been told of court reporter Shirley Stanley Bassett's disclosure to an FBI agent that she had no agreement with Neely to pass on information.
"That strongly influenced my ruling," Kiser said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Peters told Kiser that, according to Bassett's lawyer, Bassett had refused to testify before the grand jury.
Neely was indicted last year on allegations that he, Bassett and court reporter Evelyn Marie Cotton conspired from March 1989 to September 1990 to defraud the government.
The indictment alleged that Cotton, the court reporter for the grand jury during the alleged offenses, disclosed secret information on three occasions to Bassett, her friend and substitute reporter. Bassett, in turn, passed the information to Neely, her friend and sometime employer, the indictment alleged.
The information involved testimony that implicated Neely and Michael Giacolone, a former Virginia Tech football player who headed a marijuana distribution ring in Montgomery County.
A second count charged Neely, Cotton and Bassett with obstructing justice because it was known that their disclosures would reach the targets of federal investigations.
A third count charged the three with violating rules that require certain people, such as a grand jury reporter, to keep grand jury matters secret. By violating that rule, the three committed a criminal contempt of court, it was alleged.
Cotton, of Lynchburg, and Bassett, of Roanoke, pleaded guilty last year to the contempt charge. The two other charges against them were dismissed. Because there are no penalty guidelines for contempt, sentencing will be left to the discretion of the court.
Although Cotton and Bassett admitted disclosing confidential information, Kiser's decision to drop charges against Neely indicates that he thought the government could not prove in court that Neely had arranged to receive the information.
Ed Jasie, Neely's attorney, filed a motion last week asking the judge to dismiss the charges against Neely on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. It alleged that the U.S. attorney's office, the FBI, the state police and other agencies set out on a "flagrant and outrageous course of conduct" that undermined Neely.
"I cannot comment on the allegations," said Peters, the assistant U.S. attorney. "I wish I could, but I can't."
Kiser said in court Friday that he had notified Peters and Jasie earlier this week of his intention to dismiss the criminal contempt charge against Neely.
Peters asked that the trial on the two other counts be delayed, awaiting outcome of the government's intended appeal of Kiser's ruling on the contempt charge. Neely's trial was scheduled to begin on Monday.
But Kiser's dismissal of all charges means Peters will have to appeal his ruling on each of the three counts to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"I intend to pursue an appeal as vigorously as possible," she said. "In an appeal like this, what's focused on is a very narrow legal question - whether it's true or false."
The appeals process could take four months or longer, Peters said.
Kiser noted in court that Neely is the target of a continuing grand jury investigation. Authorities declined to comment on the investigation. Jasie called the government's continued investigation of Neely "an obsession."
"They're obsessed with Keith Neely," he said. "They've gone after him ever since he represented Olga Thrasher." Thrasher is the widow of a Wythe County man who was suspected of flying drugs into Southwest Virginia from the Caribbean.
Neely, whose law practice has suffered in the past six months, said Friday that he was "very happy" with Kiser's ruling.
"I hope my business will start back up again," he said.
by CNB