Brandon Erwin

By Valerie Kalfrin
The Tampa Tribune

Previous Coverage

TAMPA- A federal jury will continue deliberating Friday whether a man who worked as a host at the Blue Martini nightclub is criminally responsible for another man’s drug overdose.

Brandon Erwin is standing trial in federal court on drug distribution charges and a charge that he is criminally responsible for the November 2005 overdose death of Andrew Culver, a 35-year-old businessman.

After hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and from Erwin’s defense, the jury entered deliberations about 12:30 p.m. but quickly broke for lunch. They ended for the day just before 5 p.m. and plan to resume deliberations at 9:15 a.m. Friday.

Authorities say Erwin sold drugs in the swanky Blue Martini nightclub at International Plaza while working there part-time as a host. Authorities say he arranged cocaine and ecstasy sales there and sold cocaine and methadone to Culver before he died. Culver was found dead in a room at the Renaissance Tampa Hotel, walking distance from the bar, on Nov. 29, 2005, five days after he last was seen alive, prosecutors said.

Speaking to the jury today, defense attorney Don West admitted that Erwin, now 30, dealt drugs but said he focused on “street-level stuff” before becoming involved with Stephen Wilkinson, a confidential informant working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Wilkinson testified during the trial about his contacts with Erwin and deals Erwin arranged.

“He sold drugs. He has done absolutely shameful things that are on tape,” West said. “He will be punished and he will be punished severely for the stuff that he did do.”

West argued that prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Erwin supplied the drugs that led to Culver’s death. Security video from the hotel shows Erwin and Culver together on Nov. 23; however, the video also shows Culver leaving the hotel alone about 1 a.m. on Nov. 24 and returning alone roughly 50 minutes later, West said.

During that time frame, Culver could have obtained drugs from another source, West said.

The attorney also referred to testimony given by a defense witness, Marie Herrmann, the chief medical examiner of Volusia County, who reviewed the Hillsborough County autopsy and said that Culver’s drug addiction had given him heart damage. “With his history of chronic cocaine abuse, he could die without any drugs in his system,” West said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley pointed out that every medical expert, including Herrmann, said when asked directly that Culver would be alive today if he did not have cocaine and methadone in his system. The heart damage Herrmann noticed “could have been caused within the last few weeks,” he added.

To find Erwin criminally responsible in Culver’s death, the jury must determine whether Erwin sold Culver drugs “on or about” Nov. 23, Bentley said. In a taped conversation between Erwin and Wilkinson that was replayed for the jury, Erwin said he sold Culver an ounce of cocaine a week.

“That’s about 40 small hits a day,” Bentley said.

Toxicology reports showed such high levels of cocaine in Culver’s system to indicate he was bingeing over several hours, Bentley said. Evidence shows Culver and Erwin dined together on Nov. 23 and were in Culver’s hotel room afterward, he said.

Even though Culver was alone when he returned to his hotel room about 2 a.m. on Nov. 24, he and Erwin spoke by phone twice, Bentley said.

“Mr. Culver didn’t die from one hit of cocaine. He died from a bingeing of cocaine,” Bentley said. “That’s when Mr. Culver was bingeing, when he was with his cocaine source.”

During his argument, Bentley played other clips of taped conversations between Erwin and Wilkinson. On one, Erwin told Wilkinson, “My boy overdosed on the … I got him.” In another, he said of drug dealing, “I don’t want to be in the game, dude, but the money’s too good.”

Bentley asked the jury not to judge Culver during their deliberations. “It’s not about whether he should take responsibility for his own actions,” he said. “He’s already paid the price of his addiction.”

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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