Charges dropped in ricin case; new home searched

Therese Apel, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger | GANNETT

Show Caption Hide Caption Charges dropped for man in ricin letters case Charges were dropped Tuesday against the Mississippi man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and others, while authorities searched another man's home in connection with the case. (April 23)

Paul Kevin Curtis was released from jail hours before charges were dropped

Authorities are searching the home of J. Everett Dutschke for any ricin connection

Ricin ingredients were not found in Curtis%27 home

JACKSON, Miss. -- Charges were dropped Tuesday against the man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and two other politicians, while authorities searched the home of another man in connection to the case.

The move was announced in a brief document filed in federal court in Oxford, Miss., hours after Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was released from custody. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be re-instated.

At a news conference Tuesday, attorneys for Curtis declined to discuss whether they were told what new information the government had uncovered.

"I respect President Obama," Curtis said. "I love my country and would never do anything to pose a threat to him or any other U.S. official."

Prosecutors couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Numerous law enforcement officers went to Tupelo, Miss., the home of J. Everett Dutschke, 41. Dutschke adamantly claims that he has nothing to do with the letters attributed to Curtis.

In a phone interview, Dustchke said he feels targeted by Curtis' defense, and that he didn't know why his name was brought into it.

"I guess Kevin got desperate. I feel like he's getting away with the perfect crime," he said.

He said he feels like his implication is a defense trick to establish reasonable doubt.

"I don't know anything about this. Where are the allegations coming from? Who made the allegations? The defense attorney for the accused," he said.

He said defense attorney Christi McCoy's bringing his name into the case has caused his family a lot of problems.

"It has made my family incredibly unsafe. It has put a target on us, and it was reckless and irresponsible," he said. "The phone has been ringing off the hook, with calls and hang-ups and all sorts of horrible things."

On Monday, an FBI agent said federal authorities didn't find any ricin in Curtis' Corinth, Miss., home or vehicle. McCoy said the search results bolstered Curtis' claims of innocence.

On Tuesday, federal authorities including the 47th Civil Support Team, a full-time response team for emergencies or terrorist events that involve weapons of mass destruction or toxic industrial chemicals, searched Dutschke's house.

He also said he didn't realize that there would soon be media outside his house and he would be the center of attention.

"I consented to the search earlier, and I didn't know it would be this big of a deal," he said.

Dutschke's attorney, Lori Basham, said her client has cooperated with officials throughout the investigation.

"I have heard conflicting reports on if there was a search warrant or if he signed a consent, which means they wouldn't have had to have a search warrant," she said. "So I'm unaware if there was a search warrant or if he just agreed."

Dutschke denies reports that he and Curtis were rivals of any kind, saying they corresponded at one point because Dutschke wanted Curtis to take what he said was a fake Mensa certificate off his Facebook page.

He said that caused some arguments, but that he never considered Curtis any kind of rival. He said those correspondences took place in 2010, and that he hasn't heard anything from Curtis since.

A 2007 photo posted on Dutschke's MySpace page shows the former politician posing with Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, in several photos, including one in which Wicker presented an award to Dutschke. Wicker received one of the ricin-laced letters last week.

When asked to comment on having previously known Dutschke, spokesman Ryan Taylor said Wicker's office could not comment on the story because of the ongoing federal investigation.

Other photos on the same site show Dutschke with other Mississippi Republican heavy hitters, including former Gov. Haley Barbour, former Sen. Trent Lott, Sen. Thad Cochran and Rep. Alan Nunnelee.

Contributing: Dustin Barnes, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger; The Associated Press