Two Questions

I was looking at the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer when the start of an article caught my eye:

A Cleveland police detective testified about Payne’s connection to two cocaine sales during his November 2008 trial. The officer was about to leave the witness stand when a judge stepped in.

“Have you, detective, ever observed Mr. Payne engage in any illegal activity?” Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Joan Synenberg asked.

“No,” Detective Maria Matos said.

“Do you have any evidence that Mr. Payne was involved in either of the drug transactions on Aug. 11 or Aug. 13?”

“No,” Matos said again.

Minutes later, Synenberg tossed the drug charges. Payne was a free man.

Wow.  Two questions of my own came to mind.  Why did the defense attorney not ask these questions?  What was the county prosecutor even basing this case on?  Apparently Payne loaned $20 to a man who then sold cocaine to an undercover police officer; the loan was repaid with money from the police.  That’s what the case for a potential two year prison sentence was based on.