Bias’ Parents Will Testify, Attorney Says

The parents of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias will testify before a grand jury investigating the circumstances surrounding their son’s death from cocaine intoxication, their attorney said Wednesday.

But the attorney, Wayne Curry, said he did not know when James and Lonise Bias would appear before a Prince George’s County grand jury that Wednesday completed its third day of hearing testimony.

Curry said that county prosecutor Arthur A. Marshall Jr. offered the Biases the opportunity to testify and that they decided to do so.

Two of Len Bias’ roommates, Jeff Baxter and Keith Gatlin, and a woman who saw Bias the night he died, June 19, testified Wednesday.

Grand jurors also listened to testimony from Johnnie Walker, a District of Columbia police officer who was a friend of Bias’ and who retrieved articles from Bias’ room at the request of Bias’ parents.

Most witnesses, many of them known to be with Bias the night he died and emergency-crew members who were called to the dormitory after Bias collapsed, refused to talk to reporters when they left the grand jury room. The witnesses included Bernadette Holton, who said she loaned Bias $310 the night he died.

Meanwhile, at College Park, it was announced that in the fall, the University of Maryland’s drug-testing procedures for athletes will be upgraded to include witnesses and will be conducted in a central location.