INFORMANT: ERROR LED TO FATAL RAID

A longtime Denver police informant said he was responsible for the mistake
that led to the botched no-knock drug raid last year that killed Mexican
immigrant Ismael Mena, according to court records filed Friday.

In the affidavit, the informant said he mistakenly provided Denver police
officer Joseph Bini the wrong address of 3738 High St. as the location where
he purchased drugs Sept. 21, eight days before Mena was killed. The
informant said he later learned that the correct address was 3742 High St.,
next door to where Mena lived.

Also in court documents filed Friday, Bini's lawyer, David Bruno, said that
along with Bini, two other police officers - partners Kelly Ohu and Reyes
Trujillo - oversaw the drug buy at the wrong address.

All three helped prepare the affidavit for the search warrant for Mena's
house, Bruno said in court records.

Trujillo confirmed Friday that all three officers helped write the
affidavit. He said that Bini was the acting supervisor for Trujillo and Ohu,
and that Bini was teaching them how to write search warrant affidavits.

"We were training; we were basically training because we had no experience.
Basically officer Bini was the only one who had any experience in preparing
search warrants," Trujillo said.

He said all three "more or less" put the affidavit together.

"But I really can't go into the specifics because of the upcoming case and
because it is an ongoing investigation," Trujillo said.

Mena, 45, had been working in Denver to support his wife and seven of their
children, ages 8 to 20, who were living in Mexico.

Acting on the information provided by Bini and a court-approved search
warrant, a Denver SWAT team raided Mena's home on Sept. 29.

There, they were confronted by a surprised and armed Mena, according to
police. Police said they fired at him when Mena pointed his gun at them. No
drugs were found in the house, and no charges were filed against anyone in
the home.

Special prosecutors Charles Tingle and Mark Randall have charged Bini with
two counts of first-degree perjury and one count of attempting to influence
a public servant.

The perjury counts accuse Bini of lying in a search warrant affidavit and to
Denver County Judge Raymond Satter - who approved the search warrant - about
the circumstances surrounding the drug buy.

The other charge, influencing a public servant, relates to Bini's alleged
attempt to deceive Judge Satter, court records say.

Bruno said the officers were involved in a training exercise beginning Sept.
21, which consisted of five drug buys over two days. The three officers
drove the confidential informant to the corner of East 37th Avenue and
Humboldt Street and dropped him off, Bruno said.

A short time later, the informant returned and told them he had successfully
purchased drugs at Mena's house.

The informant got into a van with Bini and Ohu inside. Trujillo was in the
area with another officer, Mena's attorney said.

Bruno claimed that Ohu took the notes concerning the High Street drug buy
and passed them on to Trujillo to type. Bini later signed the affidavit.

"The informant gave the information to Ohu. Ohu wrote it down. She gave her
notes to Trujillo. Trujillo used those notes to type the affidavit that Bini
eventually signed," Bruno said.

Prosecutors claim that the Bini search warrant was rife with lies, but Bruno
claimed they were "mistakes" and that Bini didn't act alone.

"We've always said all along that mistakes were made and that there are
mistakes in the warrant, but they aren't all attributable to Bini," Bruno
said. "And they are simply that - mistakes." Bini presented the affidavit to
Satter believing it was true, Bruno added.

Prosecutors Tingle and Randall declined to comment Friday.

But during a court hearing Friday before District Judge Shelley Gilman and
in documents filed with Gilman, prosecutors said Bini is trying to minimize
his role.

"Shortly after the execution of the warrant, (Bini) stated to a fellow
officer words to the effect of "Don't worry, it's my affidavit."

This statement can only be understood in the context of the execution of the
warrant and the death of Mr. Mena," Randall said.

Mena's death "clearly gave (Bini) a strong motive for downplaying or being
forgetful about his role and the sequence of events which led to his signing
and swearing to the affidavit," Randall said.

(SIDEBAR)

TIMELINE

Sept. 29: Forty-five-year-old immigrant Ismael Mena is shot and killed by
Metro/SWAT police officers during a "no-knock" drug raid at 3738 High St. in
northeast Denver after police said Mena fired at them. No drugs were found
after investigators searched the home.

Dec. 2: District Attorney Bill Ritter appoints a special prosecutor to look
into the no-knock raid that ended Mena's life, including questions about
whether the wrong house was targeted and whether information on a police
affidavit was falsified in order to obtain the search warrant. Jan. 28:
Prosecutors and police investigate whether Denver police commanders asked a
technician to falsify reports to justify a no-knock drug raid.

Feb. 4: A special prosecutor charges Denver police officer Joseph Bini with
lying to get the no-knock search warrant that led to the death of Mena.

March 23: Denver Mayor Wellington Webb brokers a $400,000 settlement with
Mena's family, a monetary record for Denver in a wrongful-death lawsuit.

July 18: The disclosure of former Colorado Rockies second baseman Mike
Lansing's ridealong on the fatal no-knock raid spurs review of ride-along
records and policies.

Aug. 4: Ari Zavaras, new manager of public safety, and Gerry Whitman, new
chief of police, are sworn in after police and public safety department
shakeups resulting in part from the botched no-knock raid.