Robert Dupree White is accused of selling cocaine to an undercover informant
Robert Dupree White, 33, is accused of selling cocaine to an undercover informant working for the Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force, and the informant's wife.
Defense attorney Jake Dunnuck on Monday told Delaware Circuit Court 2 jurors that his client did not deal or possess cocaine on Nov. 29, 2006, as prosecutors allege."The evidence will not bear out what is being said here," Dunnuck said.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold told jurors they would both see and hear the drug deal, which allegedly occurred at 3600 S. Mock Ave. Informant Mike Davis was wearing a wire, Arnold said, and DTF officers videotaped the transaction.
"There will be no question," the chief deputy prosecutor said.Dunnuck said the DTF's use of confidential informants would come under scrutiny during the trial, along with the investigation that targeted White.
In his opening statements, Arnold maintained Davis was not working off any charges and helped the DTF at the insistence of his wife, who was troubled by the informant's cocaine habit.In 1995, White won round one of his courtroom battle with prosecutors, in part because then-defense attorney Jack Quirk thwarted then-Deputy Prosecutor Mark McKinney's bid to introduce key evidence. A prosecution witness also failed to show up for that trial.In 1996, the DTF arrested White again on three dealing-in-cocaine charges, and he was found convicted by a Delaware Superior Court 1 jury the following year. Judge Robert Barnet Jr. then sentenced White to two 20-year prison terms and one six-year sentence, all to run concurrently.
White was on parole in that case when he was arrested on the pending charges.
White is the cousin of Dallas White, convicted in 1997 of murdering Pizza Junction manager Sandra Bellomy. Dallas White, now 30, is serving a 55-year sentence, and is set to be released in 2024, according to state Department of Correction records.
