STATE UPHOLDS MAN'S DRUG CONVICTION

Even Though Officer, Informant Discredited In 'Fake' Scandal, Case With
Real Thing Stands

A Dallas man caught in an early drug sting arranged by a discredited police
informant must remain behind bars even though the case against him is now weak.

The state's highest criminal court this month upheld the conviction and
15-year prison term of Manuel Rodriguez Garcia, ruling against a Dallas
judge's recommendation that the case - involving real drugs - be overturned.

Mr. Garcia's was the last appeal pending before the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals that argued a new trial was necessary because the conviction had
been tainted in the wake of Dallas' fake-drug scandal. Two convictions were
overturned; two others were upheld.

Mr. Garcia had been in prison nearly nine months before the fake-drug
scandal became public.

The first arrests in cases containing fake drugs were in May 2001 but
weren't discovered until months later, when laboratory tests showed that
the evidence was bogus.

Prosecutors eventually dismissed more than 80 narcotics cases tainted by
two undercover officers and their four informants, who pleaded guilty to
civil-rights charges. Last month, a federal grand jury indicted fired
Dallas police Senior Cpl. Mark Delapaz on six counts of providing false
information in cases in which paid informants planted fake drugs on
innocent immigrants.

In Mr. Garcia's case, the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that he had not
shown he was innocent even though the arresting officer and informant have
since been discredited and the state's ability to take the case to trial
was weak.

Mr. Garcia "presents nothing to show that the evidence in his case, more
than 900 grams of controlled substances, was planted," Judge Tom Price
wrote in a statement. "He must do more than undermine the state's case. He
must show evidence that affirmatively proves his innocence."

Dallas lawyer Andrew Chatham, who worked on Mr. Garcia's appeal, said he
had hoped the appeals court would delay its decision until the federal
investigation is finished.

"I think it's unfortunate on the grounds that the Dallas County district
attorney's office wished to dismiss the case, acknowledged that there were
at best irregularities in the police investigation and that the conviction
was tainted by a confidential informant who's under federal indictment," he
said.

"If the court is going to require actual evidence of innocence, it places
an impossible burden on Mr. Garcia due to the fact that the federal
government is still investigating."

Prosecutors Karen Wise and Steve Tokoly said the district attorney's office
had no plans to intervene further on behalf of Mr. Garcia.

"We did not oppose granting relief for Mr. Garcia in the interest of
justice, and we basically did what we could under the rules," Mr. Tokoly said.

Mr. Garcia pleaded guilty in March 2001 to two drug-delivery cases based
partly on the word of informant Jose Ruiz Serrano. Mr. Serrano later
pleaded guilty to a federal civil-rights charge in connection with the
fake-drug scandal.

Mr. Garcia's plea came eight months after he was caught in July 2000 with
real drugs. According to records, Mr. Delapaz and the informant had
arranged for the informant to buy about 1.1 pounds of cocaine and 1 pound
of methamphetamine from Mr. Garcia and co-defendant Guadalupe Cruz Ramirez.
Mr. Ramirez's case, which hadn't gone to trial, was dismissed.