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Teacher�s drug charges dropped By Jonel Aleccia ASHLAND � For Debra Blair, the ordeal is over. Criminal drug charges filed in 1997 against the Ashland elementary school teacher have been dismissed, Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston announced Tuesday. "Debi and I are both extremely relieved," said Blair�s attorney, Jeni Feinberg of Medford. "I firmly believe that justice was served in this case. It�s just too bad it took three years to do it." The action follows a state Justice Department decision not to appeal a state Supreme Court ruling suppressing evidence in the case against Blair and her estranged husband, David Coleman. The state high court in May upheld the decision of a Jackson County judge that evidence had been illegally seized during a 1997 drug raid at the Nevada Street home shared by Blair and Coleman. On Oct. 9, 1997, Jackson County narcotics officers said they seized evidence of methamphetamine production from the trunk of Coleman�s car, parked at the site of a Medford drug raid. Evidence in the car linked Coleman to the couple�s home, where more meth-making paraphernalia was found, officers said. Blair subsequently was indicted on charges of manufacture, delivery and possession of methamphetamine and a charge of frequenting a place where controlled substances are used. Coleman was indicted on charges of manufacturing and conspiracy to manufacture the drug. But in April 1998, Jackson County Judge Pat Crain ruled that the evidence was inadmissible because police had inadequate search warrants. That decision was upheld by the state Supreme Court and not challenged by the Justice Department. Blair, who was a third-grade teacher at Briscoe Elementary School when the incident occurred, was buoyed by an outpouring of public support. After being removed from classroom duty briefly, she continued to teach while the case worked its way through the courts. Had the evidence not been suppressed, Feinberg said she believed that Blair would have prevailed. "I was confident in the outcome of the case because she wasn�t guilty of the charges,�� Feinberg said. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA