FAKE-DRUG SLIPS POSSIBLY FORGED

Informant's Signature Inconsistent on Police Receipts, Attorney Says

Thousands of dollars in cash payments by two Dallas detectives to a
confidential drug informant are documented with signatures that appear to
be inconsistent and possibly forged, an attorney for one of the informants
said Friday.

Attorney William Nellis said his client Jose Guadalupe Ruiz never signed
documents claiming that he received $23,600 in cash for his work as a
confidential informant. Signatures on the payment receipts differ from one
document to the next, and none of them belongs to his client, Mr. Nellis said.

"This is not the same individual signing these documents," said Mr. Nellis,
whose client has pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations and is
cooperating with prosecutors. "My client said, 'No, I never got that' ...
Where did the money go?"

FBI officials declined to comment, citing the ongoing inquiry into the
city's fake-drug scandal.

Dallas police officials also declined to comment, citing a standing request
by the FBI to refrain from an internal investigation until the federal
inquiry concludes.

The payments by two detectives to now-discredited informants total more
than $275,000, about $50,000 more than what had been disclosed by police,
records indicate. Their work led to dozens of arrests of innocent people in
2001.

At least three federal lawsuits seek monetary damages from the city for
those falsely arrested. Depositions in the largest of the lawsuits have
just begun.

Taking the Fifth

All but one of the members of the narcotics division street squad who took
part in the busts have indicated in court documents filed this week that
they will invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and
not give statements to civil attorneys. Those men - Officers Alan Foster,
Mark Woody and David Larsen - often performed field tests on the seized
substances that erroneously indicated that the powdery substances were real
drugs. Former Detective Mark Delapaz and his former partner, Officer Eddie
Herrera, have disclosed that they will not participate in civil
depositions. The only other member of the street squad quit the department
to become a federal air marshal.

As Mr. Delapaz's federal criminal trial approaches Nov. 10, attorney Paul
Coggins said his defense will include testimony from his client's former
colleagues, and he has received no indication that anyone will not cooperate.

"I know we'll have a number of police officers who will testify for Mark in
the trial. ... What they do in the civil depositions is not my concern," he
said.

Mr. Delapaz was indicted in April on six counts of providing false
information in drug cases and lying to an FBI agent. He faces up to 10
years in prison.

Officer Herrera has been on leave with pay since an inquiry into the cases
began in January 2002.

Authorities have previously said the primary informant linked to the bad
arrests, Enrique Alonso, received cash payments of about $225,000 from
police for setting up scores of drug deals. Newly obtained documents show
that detectives also paid $23,600 to Mr. Ruiz, as well as a $22,000 payment
to Mr. Alonso's brother, Luis Alonso.

Enrique Alonso, Mr. Ruiz and fellow informant Reyes Roberto Rodriguez have
pleaded guilty to fabricating fake drugs and setting up innocent people for
arrest. The men are expected to testify against Mr. Delapaz.

Questions in 2001

Questions about the busts began to surface around September 2001, when lab
tests revealed that large drug busts made by informants working with Mr.
Delapaz detected only trace amounts of illegal drugs, if any. In at least
22 cases, lab tests found the powdered substances to be mostly crushed
gypsum, the primary ingredient in Sheetrock and pool chalk. In some cases,
the seized packages were sprinkled with a small amount of cocaine. Those
targeted in the scheme were often poor Mexican immigrants unable to afford
attorneys and mount vigorous defenses to the charges.

More than 80 felony drug cases - including some legitimate arrests - were
thrown out by prosecutors because of their links to the discredited
informants or the detectives.

A review of police and court reports shows conflicting details of how the
busts occurred. In the September 2001 arrest of small-business owner Yvonne
Gwyn, Mr. Delapaz wrote in his arrest report that drugs purportedly
purchased from Ms. Gwyn by his informant were field-tested for
authenticity. But Officer Herrera's search warrant documents signed by a
municipal judge say nothing about field test results.

In a court examining trial several weeks after Ms. Gwyn's arrest, Mr.
Delapaz testified that the drugs were not field-tested until after
everything seized in the search was taken back to the police evidence room.
With civil depositions stalled somewhat for now, more answers could come
out of the approaching criminal trial, observers say. While prosecutors may
focus on charges that Mr. Delapaz falsified reports, Mr. Coggins said he
plans to prepare a broad defense that will question the department's
management and oversight.

He noted that supervisors up to the deputy-chief level signed off on the
cash payments and knew about the detectives' work.

"We'll be focusing on the system," he said. "People in the highest levels
were making decisions that affected people on the street."