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Former MVP Caminiti Headed Back to Court
Former NL Most Valuable Player Ken Caminiti is due back in a Houston courtroom Tuesday because of an alleged positive drug test that would be a violation of his probation for cocaine possession.
"They're investigating the possibility there may be a dirty urine sample," Caminiti's lawyer, Kent Schaffer, said Monday.
Caminiti, who won the 1996 NL MVP award with San Diego, will appear because of an arrest warrant issued for the alleged violation. Because state District Judge Bill Harmon is out, Schaffer said Tuesday's appearance likely will be brief. A formal hearing will be scheduled before Harmon.
The retired slugger was on probation after he was arrested with two others in November 2001 at a southwest Houston motel room, where police also found less than a gram of cocaine, two crack pipes and a crude device fashioned to smoke crack.
Caminiti pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years' deferred adjudication probation, meaning he could erase the conviction from his record if he stayed clean.
However, Caminiti ended up back in Harmon's courtroom after testing positive for cocaine in January 2003. He was ordered to spend six months in a state jail facility for drug treatment.
Caminiti, 41, only spent about 4 1/2 months in the intensive treatment program because it lost state funding, Schaffer said.
"They had to quit their drug counseling therapy," Schaffer said of the jail. "The Legislature quit funding the program."
The Harris County District Attorney's office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Source: AP
"They're investigating the possibility there may be a dirty urine sample," Caminiti's lawyer, Kent Schaffer, said Monday.
Caminiti, who won the 1996 NL MVP award with San Diego, will appear because of an arrest warrant issued for the alleged violation. Because state District Judge Bill Harmon is out, Schaffer said Tuesday's appearance likely will be brief. A formal hearing will be scheduled before Harmon.
The retired slugger was on probation after he was arrested with two others in November 2001 at a southwest Houston motel room, where police also found less than a gram of cocaine, two crack pipes and a crude device fashioned to smoke crack.
Caminiti pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years' deferred adjudication probation, meaning he could erase the conviction from his record if he stayed clean.
However, Caminiti ended up back in Harmon's courtroom after testing positive for cocaine in January 2003. He was ordered to spend six months in a state jail facility for drug treatment.
Caminiti, 41, only spent about 4 1/2 months in the intensive treatment program because it lost state funding, Schaffer said.
"They had to quit their drug counseling therapy," Schaffer said of the jail. "The Legislature quit funding the program."
The Harris County District Attorney's office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Source: AP