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By COVEH SOLAIMANI
Capital New* Service
RICHMOND — Calling for a tougher stance on drugs. Gov. George Allen plans to ask the 1997 General Assembly to allow the prosecution of drug gang members in a single trial.
"With the abolition of parole and the reform of the juvenile justice system, we have taken tremendous strides forward in safeguarding lawabiding Virginians from violent criminals," the governor said. "With that same determination and resolve we also will beat back the pernicious trade and use of drugs."
As the state's top officeholder, the Republican governor who helped abolish parole said many prosecutors ““ and lawmen complain that having separate trails diminishes their power in punishing criminals to the law's fullest extent.
"[It] hampers their efforts to bring the full weight of the law against members of drug gangs," he said. "It also squanders limited resources to have to try each member of the gang in a separate trial.
Kent Willis, executive director of Virginia’s American Civil Liberties Union, said in a telephone interview that a single trial would threaten the defendants' rights because it invites guilt by association.
"In spirit, it undermines every fundamental law we have regarding due process,” Mr. Willis said. "Naturally, if you conspire to commit a crime, then there is more than on^ individual involved. But each individ- " ual has the right to their own trial."
Mr. Willis contends that a single trial • would create conflicts for the attorneys.
"I have talked to criminal attorneys who have been in similar situations and they are not happy with it," he said, adding that he hopes enough legislators will realize the constitutional deficiency in the governor's proposal.
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