By Larry Fisher-Hertz
Poughkeepsie Journal

WHITE PLAINS -- Poughkeepsie defense attorney Donald Roth ''crossed a line no lawyer should cross'' when he tried to tamper with a witness in an Orange County drug case, a prosecutor told a federal jury Tuesday.

Roth's lawyer characterized the case against his client as ''horse manure.''

Now, the jury in the two-month trial must decide.

Roth, 34, and private investigator David St. John, 50, face federal conspiracy charges.

Prosecutors contend they tried to convince an undercover informant, Charles ''Flip" Melvin, to lie to shield two of Roth's clients from prosecution for dealing cocaine in Newburgh in 2001.

If convicted, the defendants face up to five years in prison.

The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for about two hours Tuesday following closing arguments by Roth's attorney, Lawrence Hochheiser, and Assistant United States Attorney Cathy Seibel.

Hochheiser said he had not seen any evidence during the trial that implicated Roth in the alleged conspiracy. He said the case reminded him of a remark former President Ronald Reagan once made about an optimist who looked at a pile of horse manure and declared, ''There must be a pony in there somewhere.

''That's this case,'' Hochheiser said. ''The witnesses are committing perjury and telling lies, and the United States of America is asking you to see a pony in there.''

Testimony questioned

Hochheiser said most of the witnesses who had testified against Roth and St. John, including Melvin, were drug dealers and other convicted felons whose word could not be trusted.

Melvin testified during the trial that St. John -- at Roth's behest -- had attempted to convince him to sign an affidavit saying he had never engaged in drug dealing with Roth's clients, Raymond Bryant and Tim Cherry.

Cherry and Bryant also testified Roth and St. John had talked to them about getting Melvin to recant statements he had made to police about the drug ring.

Seibel told the jury there was plenty of evidence -- in addition to the testimony from Melvin, Bryant and Cherry -- to convict Roth and St. John.

She said prosecutors had found a copy of the affidavit, prepared by St. John at his home in Millerton, at the home of a member of Bryant's family in Newburgh.

''Ask yourself how that affidavit ended up in Newburgh,'' Seibel told the jury. ''Did it travel all by itself? Did it take the Mid-Hudson Bridge or the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge?''

The jury is scheduled to resume deliberations this morning at the federal courthouse. Judge Stephen Robinson presided at the trial, which began Dec. 1, 2003. The jury heard from 15 witnesses and saw more than 100 pieces of evidence introduced during the trial.