DATE: Wednesday, November 12, 1997          TAG: 9711120670

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   56 lines

SWEETPEA LAWYER STILL AWAITING TEST DATA WITHOUT THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY DOCUMENTS, DRUG CASE VS. BOXER COULD CRUMBLE.

Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker's lawyer said Tuesday that despite making persistent requests, he has yet to receive the chain of custody documents relating to Whitaker's alleged failed drug test.

Pat English said he called the Mashantucket Pequot Gaming and Athletic Commission last Thursday and Friday and faxed a letter Monday asking for the documents, which detail who had possession of the urine sample from the time it was taken until it was tested in the laboratory. As of Tuesday - when all members of the commission were off because of the Veterans Day holiday - English said he had heard nothing back.

``I have been in contact with them each of the last three working days,'' said English, the lawyer for Main Events, Whitaker's promotional firm. ``It's now three weeks after the fight, so I'm getting a little exasperated.''

Whitaker's camp has been told he has been suspended after testing positive for cocaine. Whitaker won a welterweight bout over Andrei Pestriaev Oct. 17 at Foxwoods Resort Casino, which is located on an Indian reservation near Ledyard, Conn.

English said once he receives the chain of custody information he will request the second sample be tested. The original sample is split into an A and B and the A sample is sent to the lab.

``Once we get the chain of custody we're going to have the B sample analyzed,'' English said. ``They know we're going to do it as soon as we get the chain of custody - if there is a chain of custody. But there's no point in doing that until we get the chain of custody because we don't even know if it was Pernell Whitaker's sample.''

English said he has spoken to Mashantucket Pequot Gaming and Athletic Commission executive director John Meskill a couple of times about obtaining the chain of custody documents. English said Meskill told him he did not have them, but would find and fax them to English.

``If I don't get them, then the whole thing goes away,'' English said. ``There were people on that fight card with a history of drug offenses who have tested positive on other occasions. If there's no chain of custody, there's no proof the samples didn't get mixed up and there's no reason to believe it was Pernell's sample (that tested positive). It could be anyone's sample.''

Jose Luis Lopez, who fought Ike Quartey on the same card, had previously failed a drug test.

Virginia boxing commissioner Doug Beavers said if the tribal boxing commission does not have the chain of custody documents, it basically has no proof Whitaker tested positive. ``If they don't have a chain of custody, that would never stand up in court,'' Beavers said. ``. . . If they can't find the chain of custody, they've got big problems.''

Whitaker has emphatically denied using any banned drug. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker's camp was told that he tested

positive for cocaine. But his lawyer wants another test.

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