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Irvin cleared of drug charge Ex-Cowboy won't be prosecuted for cocaine possession
Updated: Monday November 05, 2001 10:58 PM
DENTON, Texas (AP) -- A felony drug charge against former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin was dismissed Monday because prosecutors said an officer conducted a search without a warrant. State District Judge Lee Gabriel honored a state request dismissing the felony charge of possessing less than a gram of cocaine. Irvin was indicted in June, 10 months after he and a woman were arrested at a Dallas apartment where law officers said they found marijuana and ecstasy pills. He has denied the drugs were his. No charges were filed involving marijuana and ecstasy pills. Irvin was to appear in court Friday for a motions hearing in the case. A trial date had been set for Jan. 14. A prosecutor said in a motion in court in Denton County that attorneys learned last week that a warrant-less search of the apartment had been conducted. "Until this fact was revealed to the state, the state was under the belief that all of the evidence that the state intended to introduce in the trial of Michael Irvin ... was found in plain view in the apartment when the officers entered the apartment," according to the motion. The state also said that separate internal affairs investigations of three officers from three law enforcement agencies called into question the testimony of material witnesses. Prosecutors said without that testimony, the state could not present a case against Irvin or Nelly Adham, the woman in the apartment with him who later was indicted on the same charge. "Our initial reaction is one of great relief," said Peter Ginsberg, one of Irvin's attorneys. "We are glad Michael can go on with his life now." Prosecutors said they had not been able to question the officer before last week because of an internal investigation involving an unrelated internal affairs investigation. The district attorney's office could not be reached by telephone for comment Monday night. Irvin retired in July 2000 and was hired for Fox Sports Net's Sunday pregame show. He lost that job a few weeks later after an initial arrest in the North Dallas apartment case. Irvin was arrested Aug. 9, 2000, at the apartment where law officers said they found marijuana and other drugs. Authorities said they found less than 2 ounces of marijuana along with ecstasy pills. Irvin was not charged after the arrest. The indictment on the cocaine charge was returned in June. In 1996, Irvin pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession in exchange for four years of deferred probation, a $10,000 fine and dismissal of misdemeanor marijuana possession charges. The NFL suspended Irvin for five games. He finished his deferred probation on the charge just before he announced his retirement. He was a member of three Super Bowl champion teams with the Cowboys and established himself in 12 seasons as one of the NFL's best receivers.
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