N.C. judge bars public from Marlins' Allison hearing

GREENSBORO, N.C. --A judge barred the public Thursday from a hearing in the heroin and stolen vehicle case of former Florida Marlins first-round draft pick Jeff Allison.

It appeared the preliminary hearing was postponed and neither the prosecutor nor the public defender assigned to the case was in court, The News & Record reported.

Judge Susan Burch, presiding in the Guilford County drug court, said the public was allowed in trials, but didn't necessarily have access to other parts of the judicial process, the newspaper reported. The newspaper's reporter was sent out of the hearing.

There was nothing new on file in the Allison case Thursday and neither lawyer immediately returned messages left at their offices.

After Allison was arrested in October, the lawyers said they considered an alternative sentence in which he would complete rehabilitation and report regularly to the court to avoid jail time.

The charges, including three misdemeanors, were scheduled for the drug court's Thursday session.

Allison was a first-round draft pick in 2003 from high school in Peabody, Mass. He was charged with one count of felony heroin possession and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

Allison, 22, returned to the team in 2005 after a near-fatal drug overdose, but was suspended last March for violating team policy. He missed the 2004 season because he failed a drug test for marijuana and overdosed on heroin, a drug he said he was addicted to. He also said he was addicted to the painkiller OxyContin.

Allison spent some time in rehab and made 17 starts for the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers, where he went 5-4 and had a 4.18 ERA. He began this season at Class A Jupiter in the Florida State League.

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Information from: News & Record, http://www.news-record.com