Suspect was shocked
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from July 1996.
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In the opening prosecution statement in the cocaine possession trial of the Dallas Cowboys star receiver, Assistant District Attorney Mike Gillett referred to two plastic bags police pulled from a gym bag belonging to Beck. One bag contained rock cocaine, the other contained cocaine powder, he said.
Beck said during the bust the drugs belonged to her, and she was the only one arrested. A grand jury later indicted Beck, Irvin and Jasmine Nabwangu. Irvin also is indicted on a misdemeanor marijuana charge.
According to the prosecutor, Rachelle Smith, described as a close friend of Beck's, will testify Beck told her she had no knowledge of the drugs in her bag.
"Beck said she almost had a heart attack when it was pulled out," Gillett said. "Michael Irvin assured her it would be OK and he couldn't forget what she was doing."
Gillett made his statement despite two defense objections, both overruled by State District Judge Manny Alvarez. Defense attorneys Ron Goranson and Kevin Clancy objected to the statement as hearsay.
Gillett wove for the jurors an account of the March 4 motel room encounter involving Irving police and Irvin and two topless dancers, Beck and Nabwangu.
Police detected a strong smell of burning marijuana. Then, after assuring Irvin they knew who he was, they asked where the drugs were.
"At that time, Angela Beck hangs her head and Michael Irvin says, `Tell them where it is," Gillett said. Gillett told jurors that Irvin started reaching under a sofa on which he was sitting before officers told him to stop. The officers later lifted the couch and found, directly under where Irvin was sitting, a plate with marijuana, a bag of marijuana and a bag of cocaine.
Gillett said police also found, on an end table next to Irvin, a plate with rock cocaine on it. Under a bed, they found two more bags of marijuana.
Then officers found Beck's gym bag, which also contained Cowboys' jewelry belonging to Irvin. "In that bag, they found a vial or two consistent with a holder for cocaine," Gillett said.
