Bias Probe Expands

A grand jury will look into possible illegal drug use by University of Maryland athletes and whether drugs contributed to the death of basketball star Len Bias, the Washington Post reported.

Launching an independent grand jury investigation means that, for the first time, investigators will be able to compel people to appear for questioning, Arthur A. Marshall, the Prince George’s County state’s attorney, told the newspaper. Without an arrest warrant, county police lack that power.

Marshall said that Univeristy of Maryland basketball Coach Lefty Driesell and several of his players will be called before the grand jury on Tuesday.

Earlier Marshall had said that if evidence shows Bias used cocaine in the hours before he died, criminal charges could be filed against the people who supplied the drug.

“The answer is yes,” Marshall said in response to a question about criminal liability. “Remember John Belushi. It could well be.”

In Washington Sunday, an estimated 3,000 family members, friends and fans came to see Bias for the last time at an open-casket wake. They filed filed past his coffin in the small brick Pilgrim African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Capitol Hill area.