JUDGE SETS TRIAL DATES IN COPS' DRUG CASES

The federal cases against several local law officers are on track toward
potentially quick resolutions, with trial dates and plea-agreement
deadlines set for later this month and early next.

U.S. District Judge Edward C. Prado has scheduled for trial all but one of
the cases that resulted from the recent roundup of 10 officers accused of
misconduct.

While the judge's orders issued last week set timelines for four officers
and a civilian, Prado has not yet scheduled a court date for the
investigation centerpiece — a conspiracy case against six police officers
and a sergeant's uncle.

In all, one officer faces a theft charge and the rest are accused of
accepting payments to protect cocaine shipments.

The FBI says an undercover agent posed as a narcotics trafficker and staged
phony drug deals.

Prado, in addition to trial dates, also created deadlines for plea
agreements, all of which will elapse two weeks before jury selection.

But whether any of the cases go forward as scheduled or are postponed, as
commonly occurs, remains to be seen.

Defense lawyer Raymond Fuchs said he may well need to request a delay so he
can sort through some 40 cassettes of covertly recorded telephone
conversations, the bulk of the government's evidence against his client,
San Antonio Police Officer Alfred Valdes.

Despite the uncertainty, lawyers on both sides said they are taking Prado's
dates seriously.

For San Antonio Police Officers Valdes and David Anthony Morales, as well
as Bexar County Sheriff's Deputy Richard "Bucky" Buchanan, the plea
deadline comes less than two weeks away, on May 15.

Trials for the three officers are slated to start simultaneously on May 29,
leading lawyers to believe the respective juries would be picked the same
day while the proceedings would be staggered.

A week later, on June 4, Prado would start the trial for Gilbert Andrade
Jr., a former Bexar County reserve deputy constable.

The following week would focus on the civilian charged separately, Albert Mata.