GU drug case waiting for lab

Tue., Feb. 13, 2007

Thomas Clouse Staff Writer

The criminal proceedings against two Gonzaga University basketball players will have to wait on the Washington State Patrol crime lab.

Sophomore forward Josh Heytvelt and redshirt freshman Theo Davis, both 21, were arrested late Friday in Cheney and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and felony possession of psychedelic mushrooms after a traffic stop for a defective taillight.

Cheney Police Commander Rick Campbell said his department’s investigators have not completed their investigation and he won’t make police reports public until probably sometime next week.

“The minute we forward it to the prosecutor, the investigative portion is closed and then it’s a public record,” Campbell said. “But while it’s pending investigation, it’s not a public record.”

Initial court documents that Cheney Police sent to court officials also are unavailable. Court Commissioner James Triplet said he reviewed those documents on Saturday and established that Cheney officers had probable cause to charge Heytvelt and Davis.

But those documents were not on file Monday with either Spokane County District or Superior courts.

Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor John Grasso, who will eventually prosecute the case, said the documents signed by Triplet should have been filed with District Court.

As for the full investigation, Grasso hasn’t seen all the reports and doesn’t expect them anytime soon.

Grasso explained that officers have field tests that show the “probable” existence of drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine. But they don’t have field tests for psychedelic mushrooms.

“Every mushroom case gets sent to the crime lab first,” Grasso said. “So we don’t charge those cases until we get the crime lab report.”

Jayne Aunan, supervising forensic scientist at the WSP crime lab in Cheney, said there’s normally a 30-day turnaround for officers waiting on forensic tests in drug cases.

“But in this particular case, we have told Cheney Police that we will have the tests done within the week,” Aunan said.

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