Hot dog vendor found guilty of having cocaine rocks

“At no time do I sell or smoke cocaine or crack. I only sell hotdogs and sometimes burgers,” were the words of Jomo Brudy, who was found guilty of cocaine possession in court yesterday.

Brudy was tried in court last Thursday for possession of rocks of cocaine found in a Pall Mall cigarette pack in his possession on February 17 this year.

A resident of Edinboro, Brudy is no stranger to the court with many antecedents, but it was the first time that he was accused of cocaine possession.

The court heard in the statement of the police that while on mobile patrol at 8 p.m. on February 17, they saw Brudy acting suspiciously as if he realized the presence of the police. They stated he then walked to his hotdog stand on Melville Street, appearing to dump something behind it.

The police officers, familiar with the defendant, proceeded to alight their vehicle to search the stand. They then spotted the cigarette pack and the silver packets containing a whitish substance resembling cocaine in them, and when asked about it, Brudy allegedly said, “man that ain’t mine.”

He was taken to the station and Officer Morgan, the arresting officer stated that he then practically admitted to the offence, although he made no statement, but said he would not take the charge for the offence, since he was on bond for another offence. He was subsequently charged with possession of a controlled drug.

Brudy, who chose to represent himself and not enlist the services of a lawyer, asked many questions to the police officers, suggesting that he knew the inner workings of the police and asking questions that were not to be allowed.

He also repeated questions to the officers, causing the Chief Magistrate, Rechanne Browne-Matthias to tell him, “You can’t go on and beat a horse and say you walk and you run whole day,” referring to questions the accused asked with regard to the policemen alighting from a vehicle.

Brudy told a different version of the story. He stated that he was tying up his hotdog stand when he saw the police and alerted others around him of their presence. Those people left the area and then he saw the police transport approach him and the police get out.

He said they took a flashlight and searched the area behind the hotdog cart, which the defendant could not see them doing, and picked up the Pall Mall pack with the substance in it. He said the police said he would be locked up. He insisted in court that he does not sell cocaine and never saw the pack before.

Browne-Matthias found the defendant guilty saying “I believe their version over yours.”

She also noted that although he said he was trying to reform himself, the fact that he said he alerted others to the police’s presence indicated he was a ‘lookout’ and “suggests you are doing funny things.”

Telling Brudy to “pull yourself together,” the Magistrate fined him $900, in default of which he will spend three months in prison.(KR)