Dallas Austin charged with cocaine possession


Published on: 06/27/06

Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Atlanta music and movie producer Dallas Austin has been ordered to stand trial Sunday in a Dubai court for possession of cocaine.


Austin, accompanied by two attorneys, appeared briefly in court in this Arab emirate Tuesday morning. In an arraignment-like procedure, he was formally charged with possession of 1.26 grams of cocaine.


A trial before a Dubai judge was scheduled to begin Sunday. In that proceeding, as in U.S. courts, Austin's lawyers will be able to present a defense.


The Grammy-winning Austin has been held without bail at the Rashidya police station in Dubai since his arrest May 19 at Dubai International Airport.


— Ali Khaled, AJC correspondent in Dubai

I feel sorry for his defense attorney: not only will he need to learn the laws of that country, he will also need to come up wiht a creative way to explain why Dallas was in possession of cocaine.

Conversely, I don't feel sorry for his defense attorney: he will become a very wealthy man, as his billable hours will increase ten-fold. This case could take a while....if he isn't already, he definitely will make Partner in his Firm on this case!

I am BEYOND speechless on this case. Just how DUMB can a person get? Why the hell would Dallas does this?

Graycap23 said:

Cuz he's an addict and addicts do dumb things? And it was a party for Naomi Campbell. Cocaine is the new birthday cake.

Drugs cause people to do all sorts of really stupid things.

What makes this doubly stupid, it is fairly safe to assume there were probably people at the party that could have provided him whatever 'recreation' he needed.

I agreed with some of you that he could have at least wait until he have gone to the party. Now I fully believed that he is lockup in Dubai and even his own Dubai lawyer now confirmed it.

Despite I heard that Dubai is a slightly lenient Islamic country still he is definately going to facing some long jail time. And his people in Atlanta who are denying this needs to wake up and smell reality of what is going to happen to their 'boy'.
Maybe Dallas should have visited the US Embassey site before did this stupid shit.

This cat is treated like a KING here in Atlanta.
Now it is ALL gone. He will be made an example of.

I hope that I'm wrong but.....

Sounds like he'll do, maximum, one or two years.

http://www.mtv.com/news/a...lines=true
Hitmaker Dallas Austin Imprisoned In Dubai On Drug Charges
06.26.2006 1:20 PM EDT

Producer, in prison since May 19, is likely to receive one- to two-year sentence, police say.


Hitmaker Dallas Austin has been in a Dubai prison for more than a month on drug charges, local authorities have confirmed.

Austin, 33 — who's worked with TLC, Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Pink, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and many others over his 17-year career — was traveling to Dubai to attend Naomi Campbell's three-day birthday party at the Burj Al Arab hotel when he was detained at Dubai International Airport on May 19. He is currently being held at Al Rashidiya prison, where he is being allowed visitors. The U.S. Consulate is attempting to assist Austin, police confirmed, but the consulate declined to provide further information.

While Dubai police did confirm that Austin is being held on drug charges, they stopped short of accusing him of trafficking, which can result in a death-penalty sentence in the United Arab Emirates, the Persian Gulf nation in which Dubai is located. Instead, officers characterized the amount of drugs Austin is alleged to have had in his possession as small, indicating it would likely have been for personal use.

A clerk at the Dubai Court of First Instance referred to the charges as "possessing and taking drugs," which could mean that Austin was allegedly seen taking drugs, or that traces of drugs were allegedly in his system. Under U.A.E. law, the presence of restricted drugs and medication in the body can count as possession — even if an individual used a substance before arriving in the country. A British woman named Tracy Lewis was held for eight weeks in a Dubai jail in 2005 after testing positive for prescription drugs codeine and temazepam — even though codeine is available over-the-counter in England and one of the drugs found in her system was prescribed to her at the Dubai airport clinic.

Even a small quantity of a controlled substance (which can include some over-the-counter U.S. drugs and even poppy seeds) can result in a four- to 15-year sentence in the U.A.E. However, police estimated that Austin would likely receive a sentence of one to two years, depending on the results of their ongoing investigation. Dubai police did not specify whether Austin possessed cocaine, as some news outlets reported Friday, but did say that he allegedly possessed marijuana.

Sources close to Austin suggest that the producer aroused suspicion when, after first going through airport security upon arrival, he went back to retrieve something he had forgotten on the plane. The sources said any cocaine in Austin's possession must have been a trace residue in a borrowed traveling bag.

The sources also said that Austin may have possessed the sleeping aid Ambien (also called Sonata or Zaleplon), which is not considered a narcotic but is on the U.A.E.'s list of restricted medications.

Austin is scheduled to enter a plea at the Dubai Court of First Instance on July 2.

— Jennifer Vineyard

The 'borrowed traveling bag' excuse has been used numerous times.....I would like to think they could come up with another one.

If he has Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata or any prescribed sleeping aids, they will probably be able to get him off on that one.

You are right, he ~amongst many others in the Atlanta music scene~ is treated like royalty.

It is sad to see anyone made a bad example, but this was obviosuly a very STUPID move on his part.

RipHer2Shreds said:

I was just gonna report that MTV is now reporting.... how did we get from residue being found in a borrowed bag to the man facing death is beyond me

That's the US media for you....

banks said:

Internet HYPERBOLE.

I know that country has stricted as hell drug laws but if Dallas going to face one-year jail sentence then that is better than be facing long term or death sentence. He could have got worst for doing that in a Islamic country if he was drug trafficking.
It said it is still ongoing investigation and his hearing is on the 2nd so we shall see.

RipHer2Shreds said:

I like that, haha! "cocaine is the new birfday cake" Wicked!

dancerella said:

The new birthday cake for DUMBASSES.

damn so its true, i hope all he gets is a yr or two like they sayin

Associates silent about Austin arrest


Published on: 06/28/06

Even as Atlanta super-producer Dallas Austin was formally charged with drug possession and scheduled for trial Tuesday, friends, colleagues and associates in Atlanta and beyond remained almost universally tight-lipped about his situation.

Hip-hop impresario Jermaine Dupri passed on an opportunity to discuss his fellow producer. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin — who recruited Austin to produce the city's "ATL" theme song last year — will have no comment on the situation, her communications director said. And several officials of Brand Atlanta, the city's public-private marketing firm (for which "ATL" was composed) also declined comment. Austin's Atlanta attorney and New York publicist have also kept mum.

But a few prominent locals, including local million-selling producer/musician and "crunk king" Lil Jon, spoke about the matter Tuesday.

"I've been knowing Dallas for a long time and that just doesn't sound like him. Arrested for drugs? That was probably somebody else's. I don't think dude gets down like that," said Jon, who was reached in Los Angeles, where he was attending Tuesday's BET Music Awards.

"It's weird, because I heard a while ago that he was stuck in Dubai, and I didn't really think anything about it," continued Jon. "Then word got out like a couple of days ago that he was arrested for drugs. That's just not Dallas ...

"Wow," he added, "I've never been to Dubai before and I don't think I'm going over there now."

Frank Ski, co-morning host for R&B/hip-hop radio station V-103, told listeners Tuesday he had gotten a text message from a source a few weeks ago saying Austin had been arrested. He said he couldn't verify the rumor, so didn't mention it on the air until other publications began talking about it.

He suggested that reaction from listeners has been muted because Austin, while an important music figure, doesn't have the emotional ties of more front-line artists.

"It this had happened to Usher, it would have been a bigger deal," Ski said.

— Sonia Murray, Kirsten Tagami, Rodney Ho

cubic61052 said:

I don't know why people don't realize just because a person is a big fish in their domestic small pond, it counts for NADA once you leave the shores of the United States. Those people in Dubai don't know and don't care who in the holy hell Dallas Austin is; the laws against the importation of alcohol and transporting drugs have ALWAYS been the same there, for EVERYONE, and if he ends up serving a couple of years he is getting off so lucky. In all sincerity, I am surprised that a person that successful, who has probably traveled so many places before, just wouldn't KNOW not to do that in that region of the world. Even geriatric old ladies who go on tacky shopping tours to souks in Morrocco know they can only get HOOCH in the hotel if they want to get lit

Agreed.....a dumbassfuckheadshitforbrains thing to do.....

But money can do a lot of things.....and I am guessing here, but maybe even get you off of a drug rap in Dubai, if you volunteer to pay them enough....

There MAY be HOPE.....

Dallas who? Austin story gains no traction in Dubai

PHOTOS: Dallas Austin gallery
By DON MELVIN
Cox News Service

Published on: 06/30/06

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The arrest for cocaine possession of Grammy-winning producer Dallas Austin may be big news in music circles and his hometown of Atlanta. But in this Persian Gulf city-state, the case is not garnering much attention.

"To be honest, it has not been a big story," said Ali Khaled, an editor at the Dubai-based tabloid 7Days. "It's strange. Sometimes, they'll go crazy over certain celebrities."


ELISSA EUBANKS/STAFF
(ENLARGE)
Dallas Austin, shown here in a March 2006 photo, remains jailed in Dubai.


(ENLARGE)


Newspapers ran brief stories earlier this week when it was learned that Austin had been arrested May 19 at the Dubai airport for allegedly carrying 1.26 grams of cocaine. He has been jailed without bail since then at Al Rashidiya Police Station, and his trial is scheduled for Sunday.

Follow-up articles on the Austin case have been occasional and brief. For instance, a short item in 7Days claimed unnamed American VIPs were pressing for Austin's release.

Perhaps the longest follow-up appeared Friday in the Gulf News under the headline, "Dallas Austin may be pardoned, lawyers feel." The analysis, based on conversations with lawyers not connected with the case, also contained the assertion that Austin's lawyers have approached Dubai authorities for a pardon. The newspaper cited no source for this statement.

No one connected to Austin commented on the case on Friday, following the pattern of silence.

Government offices were closed for the Dubai weekend. Austin's Bahraini lawyer, Qais al Zubi, could not be reached for comment. His Atlanta lawyer, Joel A. Katz, declined by e-mail to comment on the report of the pardon effort.

The Gulf News article went on to explain how a pardon might play out, exempting a defendant from punishment but not absolving him of breaking the law.

If Austin were to receive a pardon, his case would bear similarities to that of Indian fashion designer Prasad Bidapa, who was arrested a year ago on charges of bringing marijuana into Dubai, an Islamic city-state on the Persian Gulf that is part of the United Arab Emirates.

Bidapa admitted guilt — though he later renounced that admission — and was freed after his wife filed a plea for mercy.

Still, few in Dubai, a city of about 1.4 million people, seem to be aware of the proceedings — or of Austin. Austin, 35, is a famous name in entertainment circles because of his work as a producer of hits for TLC, Pink, Madonna and others, the movie "Drumline" and Atlanta's promotional theme song, "ATL."

"I have heard of Dallas, Texas," said a 31-year-old telecommunications worker who gave his name only as Nazih. "But Dallas Austin as the name of a person? No."

Khalifa al Manaie, a 24-year-old management student at Dubai University College, thought the name rang a bell.

"I think he was here before — about a year ago?" he said quizzically. But he had heard nothing of the arrest.

Austin's role as a producer, rather than a performer, has influenced the play of the story, said Khaled, the 7Days editor.

A lack of information is another reason the story has not been big, Khaled said. The government is saying nothing. Austin's lawyers are not holding press conferences.

"That kills a story," he said.

If by the grace of God they grant this child clemmency, the moment he hits American soil I want to see his face allll over drug PSAs from here to Timbuktu and BACK! And they should keep it REAL. Homeboy needs to show where they burned cigarettes on his booty and dug safety pins under his nails and show copies of statements from his depleated bank account for all the money he had to waste getting out of the can:

"My name is Dallas Austin, and this is your brain on drugs, kids. Epsecially if you try to pull this s**t in a muslim country"

All kidding aside, I hope he makes it out, or at most with a jail sentence (and not the more severe penalty of death or limb chopping, etc...)

banks said:

...we probably got to the idea of the man facing death because those policies are not a big secret in muslim countries. A lot of us travel to these countries for work or holiday and that's just something that's well known about these parts of the world. I hope to goodness that was a borrowed bag, and that they believe him, and will grant leniency.

Ottensen said:

It looks like a sliver of hope.

(o lawd)

Ottensen said:

but yea i hope he comes out alive and intact too