Sporting pink hair and an eye-popping outfit, a 79-year-old woman pleaded not guilty yesterday to dealing methamphetamine out of her retirement-center apartment on Smith Lane in Fortuna.
Deputy Conflict Counsel David Lee was appointed to represent Barbara Jean Engels, who was arraigned on charges of possession of methamphetamine for sale and allowing a place for storage or preparation of methamphetamine.
Engels came to court alone and sat for more than an hour in the front row reserved for lawyers. The bailiff apparently didn’t have the heart to ask her to move. Her white hair was streaked with hot pink. Her spectacles were pink. She wore purple pants and a long, shaggy coat of many bright colors, including pink and purple. Her white athletic shoes were striped with pink and turquoise.
Deputy District Attorney Tobias Hasler told visiting Judge Joseph Hurley that just 2.9 grams of meth were found in Engels’ residence in February, but there was also evidence she was selling the drug. Not only that, Hasler said, Engels has a history “going back to the ‘80s” of possessing and selling methamphetamine.
Engels’ case was called at the very end of the calendar, when the courtroom was empty except for her and this reporter.
The judge, seeing her in the front row, asked if she was there for a case.
“Yes,” she said.
“YOUR case?”
“Yes.”
At Hasler’s request, Hurley ordered a so-called “search clause,” meaning Engels must submit to a police search of her person or property “anytime, anywhere” if she wants to remain free on her own recognizance. She agreed.
Engels’ preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 4.
After the hearing she walked out of the courthouse, climbed into the front passenger seat of a newer-model sedan, and was whisked away.
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