JUSTICE DEPT. WEIGHS MENA CHARGES

Civil Rights Prosecution Of Denver Considered

Department of Justice attorneys in Washington are weighing whether to
prosecute Denver for civil rights violations in the police shooting
of Mexican migrant worker Ismael Mena, officials confirmed Friday.

The federal attorneys this month received the findings of a
Denver-based FBI investigation. They also have findings of retired
FBI agent James Kearney, who investigated the Mena case privately and
concluded that police were at fault.

Decision takes time

The matter "Is under review," Department of Justice spokeswoman
Christine Romano said.

Denver FBI Special Agent Mark Mershon said he made no recommendation
and that typically a decision on whether to prosecute, drop a case or
investigate further takes two or three months. Mershon said "all
information that we gathered, or that has been provided to us, has
been forwarded to the U.S. Department of Justice." He declined
comment on FBI findings.

The FBI began a criminal civil rights Investigation in December 1999
after Mexican diplomats raised concerns with U.S. officials. On Sept.
29, 1999, Denver SWAT officers acting on a faulty no-knock search
warrant stormed the wrong house and killed Mena, a father of nine
from rural Mexico who worked the night shift at a Coca-Cola bottling
plant in north Denver.

Later, Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas, an a special
prosecutor appointed by Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, looked
into the shooting and cleared Denver's SWAT team.

But Mena family attorney Robert Maes hired Kearney - who retired from
the FBI's Boulder office in 1995 after 25 years - to investigate.
Kearney said he was cited several times by supervisors for
outstanding service.

Initially for Maes and then on his own "for moral reasons," Kearney
said, he gathered physical evidence, including two bullets he said he
obtained from Mena's landlord.

Kearney accused Denver police of moving Mena's body at the shooting
scene, shooting him twice more, and planting a "throw-down" .22
caliber Burgo revolver.

"What tells you that the body was moved? The man laid at the foot of
the door from 10 to 15 minutes. His body completely bled out. When
they moved his body, he had no more blood in him. They shot those two
rounds through his chest that traveled through the (carpet) cushion
and the linoleum. The cushion and linoleum are devoid of blood."

Kearney "did not work with the sanction or the authority of the FBI,"
Mershon said. "We certainly accepted everything he sent to us and
scrutinized and reviewed it." Kearney "has provided a lot of
narrative and other information to us, along with his opinion. We've
conducted our own investigation," he said.

Kearney sued for defamation

Kearney is named in a defamation suit by Denver police officers. A
district court trial is set for October.

Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman and Public Safety Manager Ari
Zavaras met with Kearney for the first time Friday along with Justice
for Mena activist Leroy Lemos. Afterward, Whitman said he launched an
internal "point-by-point" investigation of Kearney's findings when he
received them in January. "We haven't completed our analysis of it,"
Whitman said, declining comment until the internal investigators
finish their work.

"It's a very detailed situation," Whitman said. "I really want to
wait for their opinion."

Whitman added that be has confidence in the "ongoing professionalism"
of Denver's SWAT team. "I continue to deploy them throughout the city
every day."