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Appeal delayed in teacher drug case The next step will have to wait another month in the state's appeal of a key decision in the case of Debra Blair, an Ashland teacher indicted on drug charges. The state was to have filed its supporting brief Tuesday. But Tim Sylwester, chief criminal attorney in the appellate division of the state Department of Justice, said he requested and received a 28-day extension from the Oregon Court of Appeals. Sylwester is handling the appeal on behalf of Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston. Appeals of criminal cases usually are handled by the state. The state is appealing an April 15 ruling by Judge Patricia Crain in Jackson County Circuit Court that suppresses evidence seized Oct. 9, 1997, during a search of Blair's home in Ashland. Crain ruled that the search warrants were inadequate, which would result in the exclusion of the seized evidence from Blair's trial. Blair is the Briscoe Elementary School teacher who faces felony charges of possession, manufacture and delivery of the powerful and illegal stimulant methamphetamine, and lesser charges of frequenting a place where drugs are used or stored. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges. A trial cannot proceed until the dispute about evidence is settled. The Ashland School District has reinstated Blair for this school year. She was assigned outside the classroom after the initial charges were filed. After Crain's ruling, the Oregon Supreme Court struck down a 1996 ballot measure that broadened state legal grounds for searches and seizures. Measure 40 said the rights of criminal defendants were restricted to how they are interpreted under the U.S. Constitution. But the court ruled June 25 that Measure 40 dealt with more than one subject and in effect was a revision, not an amendment, to the state constitution. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA