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After four hours of testimony from five witnesses, it took a six-person jury less than half an hour to find a Syracuse woman guilty on a drug dealing charge.
Deborah D. Burkholder, 46, of 209 N. Harrison St., Syracuse, was indicted for selling more than 30 grams of marijuana, a Class D felony, in September 2004. Burkholder will be sentenced July 14 at 9:30 a.m. in Kosciusko Circuit Court. She immediately was taken into the custody of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department and is being held in the Kosciusko County Jail.
Jurors heard testimony from a female informant for the Kosciusko County Drug Task Force. The informant told the court that she set up a deal to buy marijuana from Burkholder Sept. 8, 2004.
Once the deal was finalized, Burkholder went to the informant's house and an exchange took place there as a member of the drug task force watched from a spot nearby.
After the informant paid Burkholder and received the drugs, several grams of marijuana, the informant met with drug task force officers and gave them the marijuana.
The informant said it was not the first time she bought drugs from Burkholder.
Once the informant finished her testimony, Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Hearn called a drug task force officer to the stand. The officer testified that he saw an exchange between the informant and Burkholder, but he could not see what changed hands. He told the jury that he worked with the informant to set up the deal, wired the informant and gave her the money to execute the transaction.
Audrey Curry, a chemist from the Indiana State Police Lab in Fort Wayne, testified that she received the substance in a sealed package and performed tests to positively identify it as marijuana. When she weighed the drug without the bags it was packaged in, the total weight was 31.19 grams.
After the prosecution rested, the defense called Burkholder's husband Don Burkholder to the witness stand. He told the jury that, despite the informant's testimony, he was not in the car when the transaction took place. He also said that neither he nor his wife knew the person who the informant said was in the vehicle with the Burkholders during the transaction.
Then Deborah Burkholder took the stand in her own defense.
Deborah told the jury she was, "a lot nervous," and then said she went to the informant's house but did not sell any drugs.
"I never seen any marijuana," she said. "I never sold (the informant) drugs."
After Deborah's testimony, the attorneys took a short recess to prepare their closing arguments. Once the closing arguments were delivered, the jury deliberated just under half an hour before returning with the guilty verdict.
