Defense gets chance today to rebut

By Larry Fisher-Hertz
Poughkeepsie Journal

WHITE PLAINS -- A Poughkeepsie attorney and a former Dutchess County sheriff's deputy "derailed the wheels of justice'' by conspiring to tamper with a witness in a federal drug case.

That was the accusation from a federal prosecutor Monday as he summed up his case against the attorney, Donald Roth, and private investigator David St. John.

''This lawyer crossed the line,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Glen Colton told the six-man, six-woman jury.

Roth and St. John are accused of trying to convince a witness to change his testimony to exonerate two Newburgh cocaine dealers. The dealers were arrested during a federal probe in 2001 and were represented by Roth.

If convicted of the conspiracy charges, Roth and St. John face up to five years in federal prison.

The witness, Charles ''Flip" Melvin, and Roth's clients, Tim Cherry and Raymond Bryant, all testified against Roth and St. John during the two-month trial.

St. John's attorney, William Aronwald, urged the jury to question the credibility of those witnesses, saying they had made deals with federal authorities for reduced sentences for their crimes in exchange for their testimony.

''They are facing 20-year sentences. They have a motive to lie,'' Aronwald said during his two-hour summation Monday afternoon.

Aronwald argued that if Roth and St. John had really wanted Melvin to change his testimony, St. John would have put pressure on Melvin to sign a false statement saying Roth's clients had not engaged in drug deals with him. Instead, Aronwald said, ''David St. John refused to allow (Melvin) to sign that statement.''

Roth's attorney, Lawrence Hochheiser, is scheduled to deliver his summation this morning before Judge Stephen Robinson. The jury will begin deliberating after Colton is given the opportunity to rebut points made by Aronwald and Hochheiser in their summations.

Earlier case cited

In his closing remarks Monday morning, Colton said Roth and St. John had used many of the same tactics when Roth defended an accused murderer, Antonio Bryant of Newburgh, several months earlier.

In that case, Colton contended, St. John -- under Roth's direction -- convinced two witnesses to the shooting to change their stories. Without those eye witnesses, the murder case against Bryant was weakened. He eventually entered a guilty plea to manslaughter and received a five-year prison sentence.

Colton said the evidence in the federal trial showed Roth and St. John allegedly used the same methods to tamper with witnesses in the drug case as they had in the murder case.