serving time at the Co-ed Facility in 1989, took the stand in his own defence yesterday.

Hubert Leroy Rogers, who is charged with possessing .30 grams of 94 percent pure crack cocaine and .25 grams of heroin, admitted he is addicted.

The offence allegedly occurred around 3.00 p.m. on December 20, 1992, on Elliott Street near a local gambling den called Leon's.

"I was in the alley purchasing two bags of heroin,'' he told the court. "I'm an addict. I need heroin. I smoke crack now and then but heroin brings you down and slows you up. It makes the high last longer.'' Rogers said there were about five or six other men in the alley but when the Police came they all scattered.

"I had two 50s (portions of crack) that I had purchased five minutes earlier,'' he said. "I tried to flick them out of my ring and they fell out.

Det. Con. (Simon) Watkinson picked them up.

"He had me up against the wall holding both my hands, then I saw him reach over and grab a plastic bag. I told him it wasn't mine. It could have been anybody's. I even told him he could have taken finger prints and seen it was not mine.'' Rogers said he hid the two decks of heroin he had just bought on the underside of his long finger nail while in the Police car. While he was being searched at the Hamilton Police Station one of them fell out.

Crown Counsel Mr. Diarmuid Doorly asked Rogers why he did not get rid of the heroin when he saw the Police.

"I put it to you that you didn't have enough time to get rid of the (two decks of) heroin because you were trying to get rid of the plastic bag (containing 29 decks of heroin).

Rogers denied Mr. Doorly's assertion saying that he never saw the plastic bag.

"I saw him (Watkinson) pick up the plastic bag,'' he said. "If I had that plastic bag I would have been snorting it. I would have had no reason to be there.'' Derrick (Horse) Darrell whose convictions for dishonesty go back to 1964, was the second defence witness called.

Darrell, who is currently serving a prison sentence, injected some levity into the proceedings with his rambling testimony.

Darrell said he was moving a boat engine out of the alley around the corner from Leon's, because some people had been complaining about it blocking their path.

He said as he was walking into the alley, he saw a package come over and land in front of him. Police came up and gripped him from behind.

Mr. Doorly was sceptical because a few seconds earlier Darrell said he saw no one in front of the wall outside the alley.

"You went around the corner. How could you see an arm that was not attached to any body reach over a seven foot wall?'' Mr. Doorly asked.

Darrell stuck to his story. He said he saw someone else throw the bag in, but admitted he wanted to get his hand on the package.

"I wished I could have got the package before the Police. I could have made some money.

"I saw a couple of things on the ground I wanted to get my hands on but ten minutes later they arrested me.'' Both the prosecution and defence have finished their submissions, and the 11 woman, one man jury will begin their deliberations after directions from Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward.