Posted on 09/15/2002 10:49:07 AM PDT by Wolfie
Drug-Treatment Staff Subpoenaed
The Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office has joined the Orlando Police Department in the drug investigation of Noelle Bush, issuing subpoenas to four workers at the drug-treatment center where the governor's 25-year-old daughter is staying.
But a lawyer representing the four subpoenaed employees of the Center for Drug-Free Living said Friday that federal laws prevent the workers from answering investigators' questions. Those laws protect the confidentiality of clients at the center and keep nearly everything about the program secret.
Center officials have refused to comment.
Julia Elias, the employee who discovered the drug, completed a written statement but later tore it up and threw it away after her supervisor, Vilma Accison, told her to stop talking to investigators, according to a police report.
Elias refused to talk about the Monday incident when reached Friday.
"I don't have any comment. I have not testified to anything. I have nothing to say. Good afternoon," she said before hanging up.
Burruezo, the center's lawyer, said Accison, Elias, employee Sandra J. Williams and program director Joyce Bruton are the subpoenaed workers.
According to a police report, Williams told officers on Monday "that the treatment center's policy is to turn these types of matters over to the police."
However, Bruton, who arrived later, told police that the center's policy is "to handle these types of situations in-house, rather than involving the authorities."
The conflicting information puzzled officers and police officials. On Tuesday, police said they could not make an arrest Monday night because they did not have probable cause without the written statement.
An Orlando police captain who is overseeing the investigation said the lack of cooperation is unusual.
"We've never had a sworn statement ripped up by a witness in front of an officer," said Capt. Robert Gregory of the drug-enforcement division.
Full article here
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.