Barry Loses Bid for Separate Trial on New Drug Counts : Narcotics: The ruling represents a setback for Washington’s mayor. It may put pressure on him to negotiate a plea bargain.

WASHINGTON — Attorneys for Mayor Marion Barry lost their bid Tuesday for a later and separate trial on six new charges alleging a lengthy pattern of cocaine abuse. Instead, they must begin trial Monday on 14 counts of perjury and illicit drug use.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson may intensify pressure on the embattled mayor to negotiate a plea agreement.

Jackson’s decision was a setback for Barry’s lawyers because they believed they would have a better chance of winning his acquittal if they could pare away charges of long-term drug use from earlier charges arising from an FBI “sting” operation. In the sting last January, the mayor was secretly videotaped smoking crack in a hotel room with a former girlfriend, prosecutors say.

The six new charges filed three weeks ago combined with earlier charges mean that Barry--who is considering a reelection bid--is facing three counts of perjury, 10 counts of cocaine possession and one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine.

Although U.S. Attorney Jay B. Stephens declined immediate comment on Jackson’s ruling, prosecutors traditionally believe that the more charges a defendant is facing at once, the better their chances of getting a conviction.

If he were convicted on all 14 counts, Barry, 54, could receive a maximum sentence of 26 years in prison and fines of $1.85 million.

The judge’s decision came on a day in which the Washington Post reported that friends of Barry said he might be open to a plea agreement that would allow him to avoid prison by admitting misdemeanors.

As part of any agreement, the mayor also would insist that federal prosecutors keep under seal the videotape that allegedly shows Barry using drugs last Jan. 18 just before his arrest at the Vista Hotel, the Post said.

Barry had no comment on the Post’s account Tuesday, but one of his top political advisers sought to throw cold water on speculation that he would negotiate for a plea.

Anita Bonds, chairman of Citizens for Mayor Barry, issued a statement saying that she wished to “clear up some misunderstanding circulating in the community.” Bonds said she spoke with the mayor Monday night and “he’s going full steam ahead with his trial. Plea bargaining is not in the picture.”

In denying the motion for severance filed by R. Kenneth Mundy, Barry’s chief lawyer, Jackson told associate prosecutor Richard Roberts that he should provide defense lawyers with the names of all unindicted co-conspirators and government witnesses by Thursday. Mundy had based his request for two separate trials partly on a claim that he could not discover and interview all of the witnesses soon enough.

Jackson hinted that if the government failed to comply with his order he might change his ruling and delay the trial. But he said, “Absent a national catastrophe, I don’t expect a continuance in this case.”

Mundy also told Jackson that, despite earlier indications, he would not try to use alcoholism as a defense. Mundy last week criticized FBI undercover agents for providing cognac in the hotel room where Barry was videotaped. They said the combined offering of crack and cognac endangered the mayor’s life.

After his arrest in the undercover sting, Barry spent seven weeks at substance-abuse centers in Florida and South Carolina for what he said was alcohol dependency. But Mundy told Jackson that “we will not be calling any experts or lay people to testify what effects alcoholism had on the intent of the defendant.”

However, if Barry’s attorneys choose to use the so-called alcoholism defense, they would be required to turn his medical records over to the prosecution.