Finding Normal

http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/01drugs.txt

Police: Drugs sold at apartment a month before overdose death

Police suspected a Winona man of selling methadone a month before he provided drugs to a woman who died of an overdose, court documents say.

Authorities did not arrest Harold Albert Skroch Jr., 44, after an informant bought drugs Jan. 8, 2008, in his apartment, police said. About a month later, he gave methadone to Jane Jay Christensen, 45, who died of an overdose Feb. 4, 2008, according to court documents.
Police referred Skroch to the county attorney’s office for charges in the January sale, but prosecutors declined to file charges. Nearly a year passed before police arrested Skroch in relation to Christensen’s death. He was charged last month with third-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court in April.

Officials said determining when to make an arrest or file charges in a drug-sale situation is made on a case-by-case basis. Skroch was allowed to remain free for nearly a year because police were building other cases closely linked to his, said a narcotics investigator with knowledge of the investigations.

Even if police would have arrested Skroch following the January sale that took Christensen’s life, Winona Police Deputy Chief Tom Williams said she still may have been able to obtain the drugs that killed her from someone else.If the deputy chief realizes if she had not bought the methadone from him she would have got it from someone else how can they charge him with this?

A police informant bought methadone Jan. 8 for $60 from Kathryn Sue Hanville, 51, who lived with Skroch at 152 Mankato Ave., court documents show. The informant intended to buy the drug from Skroch, but he was in another room and told Hanville to complete the transaction, according to a criminal complaint.

Hanville was later charged and has been summoned to appear in court Feb. 24. Assistant Winona County Attorney Kevin O’Laughlin declined to say why Skroch was not charged in the sale.

Some drug cases are allowed to become “prolonged,” Williams said, so police can conduct multiple controlled buys to strengthen a case and help protect an informant who may be buying drugs from several sources.I believe this is a copout they are using to CTA.