Jury acquits Metro officer in drug case

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2001 | 10:32 a.m.

After just 30 minutes of deliberations Tuesday, a Metro Police officer was found not-guilty of drug-related charges.

Officer Jon Aaron Brown, 31, was arrested in May 1999 after nearly dying from an overdose of the date-rape drug GHB.

Brown was charged with drug trafficking and being under the influence of drugs, including Ecstasy, after police searched the apartment he was visiting and found large amounts of GHB and chemicals used to make the drug.

After the verdict was announced Tuesday, defense attorney Kevin Kelly said he hopes his client will be allowed to return to work as soon as possible. Brown, who has been with the department more than five years, has been on paid leave since his arrest.

"I'm excited the jurors saw through the bogus charges, and I believe they sent the message in the swiftness of their decision that this case should never have been brought to trial," Kelly said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Eric Jorgenson told jurors Monday that on May 25, 1999, Brown went partying with his sister, his sister's fiance and Lydia Gorzoch.

After having several drinks, Brown and Gorzoch went to Gorzoch's apartment. Five hours later Gorzoch called 911 to report that a Metro officer named Jon was unconscious and that they had been doing GHB.

Brown stopped breathing at least three times while paramedics worked on him, but he eventually recovered.

During a search of Gorzoch's apartment police found two glasses with GHB inside, drugs used in the manufacturing of GHB and 108 grams of GHB inside a water bottle that had been hidden in Gorzoch's closet. The glasses had Brown's fingerprints on them.

Brown and Gorzoch were charged with drug trafficking and being under the influence of drugs, and Gorzoch was also charged with manufacturing a controlled substance.

Gorzoch struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid a mandatory life sentence and testified against Brown Monday. She told jurors Brown unknowingly ingested the GHB, but willingly took the Ecstasy.

Brown believes the Ecstasy was slipped into his drink while he was at The Rio. He also contends he accidentally drank the GHB after getting it out of Gorzoch's refrigerator.

Gorzoch is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 1.