DETECTIVE INDICTED IN FAKE-DRUG SCANDAL

State Tampering Charges Follow Officer's Acquittal In Federal Case

A grand jury on Thursday indicted the Dallas police narcotics detective
central to the 2001 fake-drug scandal on seven felony charges of tampering
with physical evidence.

The indictments allege that Senior Cpl. Mark Delapaz knowingly submitted
false police reports and other documents in several cases in which people
were arrested on bogus drug charges.

The grand jury on Thursday also indicted a former narcotics officer, Jeff
Haywood, charging him with three counts of tampering with physical evidence
­ a third-degree felony punishable by up 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The state charges are the first to result from the four-month investigation
by Dan Hagood, the former local prosecutor tapped in December by Dallas
County District Attorney Bill Hill to look into the series of false arrests.

Mr. Hagood declined to comment on the indictments or whether more
indictments might follow, saying only that his "investigation is ongoing."

Cpl. Delapaz, who was acquitted last year on federal charges similar to
some of those announced Thursday, could not be reached for comment.

His defense attorney, Paul Coggins, said he is surprised to see Mr. Hagood
"re-litigating issues that the jury dealt with in the federal case," he
said. "Mark will emerge vindicated again."

Mr. Haywood, who left the department in October 2001 to join the Air
Marshal Service, could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

It was unclear how and when Cpl. Delapaz and Mr. Haywood might be taken
into custody. Mr. Coggins said Thursday afternoon that he was "making
arrangements" for his client.

Dallas police said Cpl. Delapaz remained on paid administrative leave from
the department. Mr. Haywood was placed on "light duty" while the air
marshal service reviews the charges and determines whether he will face any
discipline, said Dave Adams, an air marshal spokesman.

Few specifics

The state indictments offer few specifics about the charges against the two
officers. But the documents allege wrongdoing occurred in cases involving
some of the more than two dozen people arrested in 2001 based on drug
evidence that tested later as having no narcotics or only trace amounts.

A group of corrupt confidential informants paid by police to help catch
drug dealers have said they framed innocent people during the summer and
fall of 2001 by planting billiards chalk packaged as though it were cocaine
or methamphetamine.

The cases unraveled later ­ often after the accused, mostly poor Hispanic
immigrants, languished in jail for months ­ when laboratory tests before
trials revealed the drugs were fake.

The district attorney later dismissed more than 80 drug cases ­ many with
real drugs ­ involving Cpl. Delapaz and the informants.

Cpl. Delapaz, who was nominated just before the scandal erupted for officer
of the year because of the arrests, is accused of submitting false arrest
reports in several of those cases.

Federal authorities unsuccessfully made similar allegations last year,
arguing at trial that Cpl. Delapaz violated the civil rights of four people
by lying in arrests reports and to a prosecutor in an effort to bolster the
cases.

Federal prosecutors did not allege that Cpl. Delapaz knew the drug evidence
was fake ­ three informants testified that they duped him but that he lied
about seeing drug transactions that never occurred.

In one case, which also is cited among Thursday's indictments, Cpl. Delapaz
arrested Yvonne Gwyn, a 54-year-old auto shop owner from Dallas. Based on a
corrupt informant's tip, officers seized more than 64 pounds of fake
cocaine and methamphetamine from an unlocked Honda Civic parked outside Ms.
Gwyn's business.

Ms. Gwyn, whose shop went out of business after she spent three months in
jail on first-degree felony charges, has said an unknown man dropped off
the car for a tune-up and cleaning.

To secure an arrest warrant against Ms. Gwyn, federal prosecutors argued,
Cpl. Delapaz stated falsely to a judge that he saw her retrieve a package
from the car.

Ms. Gwyn "had nothing to do with those packages. The informants may have
set her up, but his defendant's lies is what sent her to jail," federal
civil rights prosecutor Jeffrey Blumberg said in his opening statement.

An informant testified during the trial that he and others framed Ms. Gwyn
to get money from police ­ who paid by the size of the bust.

Jurors ultimately sided with Cpl. Delapaz, acquitting him in November.

New indictments

The new state indictments also allege that Cpl. Delapaz falsified an
internal drug buy report that narcotics officers use to account for
expenditures. The reports are used to keep track of money paid to informants.

Questions about the accounting for the more than $250,000 officers said
they paid to the informants have swirled throughout the scandal.

Mr. Haywood, who assisted in some of the arrests, is accused of making,
presenting or using false documentation in two cases, including one in
which records show he received a positive result on the evidence with a
testing kit used in the field.

The substance later tested as having only trace amounts of cocaine not
enough to warrant charges.

The field test issue is important because the serious felony arrests
wouldn't have been justified had officers received negative results on the
evidence. The negative results ­ if, in fact, the tests were performed ­
could have prevented the scandal.

Staff writer Michael Grabell contributed to this report.