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CNN Live Today

Hearing Postponed in Noelle Bush Drug Case

Aired September 13, 2002 - 13:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A court hearing scheduled today in Orlando, Florida for Governor Jeb Bush's daughter, Noelle, has been postponed. Reports indicate it's because staffers at her drug treatment center are refusing to cooperate with police, and the staffers want to handle the situation in-house. Noelle Bush was allegedly caught with drugs at the treatment center.
CNN's Mark Potter is covering that story also.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police say drug clinic staffers found a two-gram crack cocaine rock in Noelle Bush's shoe, after a search, prompted by complaints from other residents at the Center for Drug-Free Living in Orlando. Governor Jeb Bush's 25- year-old daughter has been in treatment at the center since her arrest in January for allegedly using a phony prescription to try to obtain Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug.

In July, she was jailed for three days after being caught with unauthorized prescription drugs that had been taken from a medicine cabinet at the drug treatment center.

Judge Reginald Whitehead then sent her back to the facility, with a warning.

REGINALD WHITEHEAD, ORLANDO COUNTY COURT JUDGE: I hope that you have learned something from the three-day stay that you had in the Orange County Jail. It was meant for a purpose, to give you some time to think and reflect on some of the decisions that you have been making.

POTTER: In a statement earlier this week, the governor said his family loves and supports Noelle, and prays for her continued progress.

GOV. JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: This is a private issue as it relates to my daughter and myself and my wife. The road to recovery is a rocky one for a lot of people that have this kind of problem.

POTTER: Cocaine possession is a felony, but police have not filed charges or arrested Noelle Bush. According an officer's report, police were called by a resident at the facility. The report also says treatment center staffers were told by a supervisor there to stop cooperating with authorities.

One staffer ripped up her written statement, leaving police without proof -- quote -- "that Noelle Bush purchased or possessed crack cocaine."

The officer quoted another supervisor as saying, "The treatment center usually handles these matters in-house, without involving authorities."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That report from CNN's Mark Potter.

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