Tribble Jurors Are Selected

A jury of seven men and five women was selected to hear the trial of Brian Lee Tribble, who is accused of providing former University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias with the cocaine that killed him.

Prince George’s County, Md., Circuit Court Judge James M. Rea also listened to a series of pre-trial motions by prosecutor Robert Bonsib and defense attorney Thomas Morrow. Opening arguments are scheduled to begin this morning.

Tribble, 24, is one of three men who allegedly were in a College Park dormitory room with Bias when the All-American collapsed in the early morning hours of June 19. Bias, the No. 1 selection of the Boston Celtics in the 1986 National Basketball Assn. draft, was later pronounced dead. An autopsy determined that he died of cocaine intoxication.

The other two men, David Gregg and Terry Long, are expected to be the prosecution’s key witnesses in the trial that is expected to last about two weeks and reveal to the public for the first time what exactly happened in the hours leading up to Bias’ death. Gregg and Long, former teammates of Bias, had charges against them dropped in exchange for testifying against Tribble.

Tribble, a friend of Bias and a former Maryland student, is charged with possession of cocaine, distribution of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Tribble has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The jury was selected from a field of 100 prospective jurors. Within an hour, 24 prospective jurors were eliminated, 21 of whom admitted they already had an opinion on the case.

Morrow asked Rea to sequester the jury for the duration of the trial, but the request was denied. However, Rea said he would poll the jury each morning and make a decision on whether to sequester the jury on a day-to-day basis.

Morrow and Bonsib are prohibited from commenting on the case because of a gag order imposed by Rea.