Webber denies striking policeman
Closing arguments set for Wednesday; prosecutors seeking jail time
Posted: Tuesday December 01, 1998 08:58 PM
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Emotional defense: Chris Webber (4) raised his voice twice during the proceedings Doug Pensinger/Allsport |
UPPER MARLBORO, Maryland (AP) -- Occasionally defiant but under control,
Chris Webber
took the stand Tuesday and denied striking a police officer and using
marijuana before he was arrested on his way to a Washington Wizards
practice in January.
"I had to go to work. It's not the time or place," Webber said when he
asked if he had used drugs that day. "Not that any time is the time or
place."
Webber is charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest,
disobeying an officer, marijuana possession and several traffic-related
offenses stemming from a January 20 traffic stop for speeding near the
Washington Beltway. The arrest was one of several off-the-court matters
that prompted the Wizards to trade Webber to the Sacramento Kings in May.
With testimony concluded, closing arguments are set for Wednesday
morning. Prosecutors have said they will ask for jail time if Webber is
convicted of the more serious charges.
Webber raised his voice twice in his defense, once to say "Yes, he was"
when asked if arresting Officer Raymond Kane had lied when testifying for
the prosecution, and again when describing the moment he was hit by pepper
spray while sitting in the driver's seat of his sports utility vehicle.
Webber, who said he was talking to his lawyer on a cellular telephone at
the time, testified he was sprayed three or four times flush in the face.
Kane testified he sprayed Webber twice, with only one direct hit to the
front of the face.
"It was not one time! It was not one-and-a-half times!" Webber said. "I
remember screaming to my lawyer, 'He's macing me!'"
Webber was more composed, and even paused for a beat or two, when asked
if he had smacked Kane on the hand.
"No," Webber said. "The last thing I want to do is be in a position like
this. So, no."
Earlier, Kane testified that he was struck by Webber while attempting to
open the door to Webber's vehicle, a Lincoln Navigator. A second witness, a
detective backing up Kane at the traffic stop, said he witnessed Webber
assaulting Kane.
As for the marijuana found in the Navigator, the defense implied the
drugs were left there by one of Webber's friends. Webber said he loaned the
vehicle to friends from time to time, and he didn't bother to check its
contents before leaving his house that morning.
Most of the testimony concerned the charge that Webber was driving under
the influence of marijuana, and it turned into a battle of experts. A
police drug recognition expert said he smelled marijuana on Webber's breath
after the arrest and Webber had a "green coating on the back of his tongue"
that was consistent with someone who smoked the drug.
The police expert also said Webber failed several coordination tests that
indicated marijuana use, but the defense produced a witness who said those
findings were "useless" because Webber would still have been feeling the
effects of the pepper spray.
The prosecution called a rebuttal expert witness who questioned the
expertise of the defense's expert and said the pepper spray would have worn
off by the time Webber was examined for drug use.
The arrest was one of two marijuana-related dealings with the law this
year for Webber, who paid a fine after admitting possession of marijuana
found in his carry-on bag at an airport in Puerto Rico in August. Later
that month, Fila, the sneaker maker, canceled its multimillion-dollar
endorsement contract with Webber, saying he had violated a good-conduct
clause.
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