WIRETAP HINTED IN DRUG BUST

Some Bakersfield defense attorneys believe controversial Los Angeles law
enforcement wiretapping practices may have played a role in Kern County
drug cases in recent years.

Now attorneys for two drug defendants say they are especially suspicious of
one recent arrest from a traffic stop on Interstate 5, saying dispatch
tapes may help prove the case stems from an improper use of wiretapping
information. But the prosecution is holding back part of those tapes.

Attorneys have now asked appellate justices to decide the dispute.

The California Highway Patrol arrested Detroit residents Bryon Moore and
Eric Young after the stop allegedly uncovered two kilograms of cocaine. The
CHP may have fabricated the speeding violation behind the traffic stop,
said defense attorney Randall Dickow.

The real reason for the stop may have been a wiretap "handoff," a practice
first developed by Los Angeles prosecutors, according to documents filed by
Dickow and deputy public defender Raymonda Burnham.

The technique works like this: Officers listening to telephone wiretaps
learn incriminating details, then tip off other officers with a vehicle
description and location, documents state. They state the practice can
allow officials to keep the wiretapping secret.

But a defendant is legally entitled to know if a wiretap played a role in
his arrest, Dickow said.

In Los Angeles, improper handoffs have led to the reversals of several
convictions. And more reversals may be on the way, said Kathy Quant, a
deputy Los Angeles County public defender.

In the case against Moore and Young, another police agency outside of Kern
may have done the wiretapping and given the information to officials here,
Dickow said.

The two men were stopped Oct. 30 near Copus Road after a CHP canine-unit
officer said he saw their car speeding. The officer's drug dog, Jimmy,
smelled the cocaine through the hidden compartment where it was stored,
court files state. The street value was estimated at $200,000, according to
court documents.

Officers also seized nearly $2,000 in cash.

Kern prosecutors later gave the defense tapes of conversations between the
officer and dispatch. But the prosecution edited some portions out, saying
that information is legally allowed to be withheld. Kern County Superior
Court Judge Roger Randall reviewed the material and sided with the prosecution.

The defense has asked the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Fresno to
order full disclosure of the tapes.

Defense attorneys first became suspicious when the prosecution refused to
turn over the tapes, information that is routinely supplied, Dickow said.

Prosecutors in some situations can withhold some types of information, such
as the identity of a confidential informant, that they do not plan to use
at trial. But speeding stops come from officers' observations, not
informants or any other type of privileged information, Dickow said.

The prosecutor has not denied the wiretap allegations, Dickow pointed out.

Deputy District Attorney Susan Barton said there is no evidence to support
defense claims.

"They have suspicions," Barton said. "They're going off on some tangent.
Their suspicions are not supported by anything."

Barton declined comment on the reason for the confidentiality of the tapes
or whether a wiretap was involved in the arrest.

The tapes include discussions by different dispatchers and officers on
different CHP cases and phone calls, Barton said. The privileged
information is not necessarily connected to the case at hand, although she
would not say whether it was.

"Most of the stuff they get (on the tapes) has nothing to do with this
case," she said.

In general, disclosure of wiretap information can undermine an
investigation, Barton said.

Barton said when traffic stops generally are based on objective reasons -
such as speeding - then the law treats any other possible underlying
reasons for the stop as irrelevant. Without a traffic violation, any stop
based only on wiretap information cannot be prosecuted unless officials
disclose the information about wiretaps, Barton said.

CHP Lt. Doug Puder said any tip from a police agency about drugs in a
vehicle is handled in the same fashion as a tip from a resident - officers
watch the suspect vehicle to see if there are any traffic violations. If
not, they would not make a traffic stop based on just the call itself,
Puder said.

John Ulman, assistant Kern public defender, said the sheer number of drug
arrests from I-5 stops has made him wonder in the past about possible
handoffs here, adding there is no proof of that. Judges have restricted
defense inquiries on the issue because attorneys had no evidence of
handoffs, said defense attorney H.A. Sala.

But Sala said the tapes in the case against Moore and Young may have such
evidence, and he is watching the case closely.

"They (officers) are very careful of what they say over the air," Sala
said. "This may have been a slip up."

Nothing is wrong with handoff arrests as long as officials follow the rules
for use of wiretap information, said District Attorney Edward Jagels.

Handoffs probably have prompted some I-5 drug arrests, Jagels said. But
Jagels said he knows of no specific handoff cases, leading him to believe
there have been few of them.

The success in drug arrests on I-5 - a major corridor for the West Coast
flow of drugs and drug money - came from well-trained officers who can spot
drug traffickers by a variety of factors from type of car to manner of
driving, Jagels said.

He said there has been a decrease in recent years in the number of CHP drug
busts on I-5.

Drug-related seizures of cash or vehicles by officers with the CHP
Buttonwillow office - which covers western Kern and focuses mostly on I-5 -
dropped significantly several years ago, from 30 seizures in 1996 to just
two in 1997, said CHP Sgt. Terry Hester. The figure has since stayed at the
lower level.

Policies and staffing levels have not changed, Hester said.

The aggressive seizures before came from several officers who had a strong
interest and considerable skill at spotting suspected drug traffickers,
Hester said. Most of those officers have since left the office, Hester said.

Moore and Young were scheduled for trial March 12 on charges of drug
transportation and possession of drugs for sale.