Attorney: DA's case is vindictive
Stripp claims Gillson prosecuting drug dealer
for talking to the FBI

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Jack Duckett will have his first day in McKinley County District Court Friday on drug trafficking charges the county's district attorney filed against him eight months ago. According to Duckett's attorney, however, Duckett wouldn't be facing the charges if it weren't for the district attorney's own alleged drug habit.

Duckett's attorney, William Stripp, filed a motion in District Court Monday accusing District Attorney Karl Gillson of purchasing and using cocaine and promises to present relevant evidence during Friday's hearing in hopes of having the charges against his client dismissed.

The messages The Independent left Gillson at his office Monday afternoon requesting comment were not returned.

Stripp wouldn't comment for this story but in his motion claims that Duckett told FBI agents of Gillson's drug habit in 2002, shortly after they arrested him for selling cocaine out of his Gallup jewelry story, Southwestern Gold.

"It is reasonably likely that such an allegation would make Mr. Gillson angry and vindictive," Stripp's motion reads.

Stripp notes that the charges were filed April 8 of 2004, nearly a year-and-a-half after Duckett's arrest, and, he claims, only after Gillson was tipped off about what Duckett told the FBI about him.

"This creates an appearance that there is a reasonable likelihood that the prosecution was based upon vindictiveness," he writes.

Stripp speculates that Gillson's decision to file state charges against Duckett, already serving a five-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges in U.S. District Court, served a second objective: to intimidate and silence other would-be FBI informants.

Stripp is hoping he'll have enough evidence to back up those claims Friday and get the district judge to dismiss the two counts of cocaine trafficking a first-degree felony against Duckett. He waived Duckett's preliminary hearing Oct. 29 in Gallup Magistrate Court, where judges cannot dismiss felony charges, in order to move the case into district court as quickly as possible.

In a report of Duckett's conversation with the FBI that Stripp included with his motion Monday, Duckett does not claim first-hand knowledge of Gillson's drug use. Asked about corruption among local public officials, Duckett told them about Jeff Carnell. While selling Carnell cocaine on one occasion a year-and-a-half ago, he told investigators at the time, Carnell mentioned that he'd been selling cocaine to Gillson.

In the report, Duckett says he can't help set Gillson up because potential middle-men would be suspicious of buying from him once news of his arrest had spread. He said Carnell would also find his call suspicious so long after their conversation about Gillson.

According to Stripp's motion, Drug Enforcement Administration agents and McKinley County deputy sheriffs approached a defendant in another criminal case to catch Gillson. Although there have been no drug charges against the district attorney, Stripp's motion mentions an unnamed FBI agent claiming at least eight independent sources of information pointing to Gillson purchasing or using cocaine.

Law enforcement officials declined to comment.

After finally filing the charges, Stripp further claims, Gillson eventually recused himself from trying the case and handed it over to Taos District Attorney Donald Gallegos. By law, Gillson does not have to explain his decision to give up a case, and neither his office nor Gallegos' would comment.

The cocaine allegations come shortly after a panel of the New Mexico Supreme Court's Disciplinary Board reprimanded Gillson for not fully complying with state rules on disclosing exculpatory evidence to the defense in a pair of cases he prosecuted for the state in 2003. The reprimand was a modest sentence compared to an earlier hearing commission's recommendation that Gillson's law license be suspended for at least one year.

Tuesday
November 30, 2004
Selected Stories:

Attorney: DA's case is vindictive

Courthouse renovations nearly complete

Jackson steps down

Females to be focus of World AIDS Day

Deputies probing suspicious death

Election grievance ends with settlement

Resources, public safety panels travel outside of Navajo Nation for meetings

Deaths