CONTROLS SOUGHT ON NO-KNOCK RAIDS

June 28, 2000 - In the wake of a botched no-knock drug raid that left a man
dead, a panel of experts called Tuesday for better training for Denver
police, prosecutors and judges and closer scrutiny of warrants.

Mayor Wellington Webb said he believes the tighter controls will result in
fewer immediate-entry search warrants issued to Denver police - and prevent
tragedies like the one that ended with the shooting death of Mexican
national Ismael Mena on Sept. 29.

"With more intensive training of officers, prosecutors and county court
judges as well as closer scrutiny over the issuance of immediate entry
warrants, the public can expect to see a decrease in the number of noknock
raids," Webb said.

Webb formed the five-member panel in February at the height of the
controversy over Mena's killing. Police officer Joseph Bini had obtained
the search warrant that led SWAT officers to Mena's northeast Denver home
in September.

While Mena pointed and shot a gun at SWAT officers who barged into the
house, police admit Bini's warrant contained the wrong address because of
bad information from a confidential informant.

At a city hall news conference Tuesday, committee members said they
considered and decided against a moratorium on no-knock warrants. The
recommendations do call for a semi-annual review of the warrants that are
issued, however.

The number of no-knock warrants has dropped dramatically since Mena's
death. Only 15 noknock warrants have been executed this year, compared with
27 at this time last year, said interim Police Chief Gerry Whitman, a
member of the panel.

Some of the committee's recommendations have already been adopted, Whitman
said, but he said he wasn't sure if they would have made a difference in
the Mena case.

"I can't say they would have prevented Mena's death," he said.

Under one of the new policies, veteran narcotics detectives are assigned as
on-call experts to supervise less-experienced street officers investigating
drug cases.

"It's checks and balances all the way," Whitman said.

District Attorney Bill Ritter, another member of the committee, called the
added supervision the most significant of the changes.

"But there is no operations manual that you can put in place to address
every situation," said Ritter.

The time frame for executing a no-knock warrant after obtaining one from a
judge also will be cut under the committee's plan. They now will be good
for only three days rather than 10. The raid that led to Mena's death was
based on a 6-day-old warrant.

"Drug dealers move. They change locations," said Presiding Denver County
Court Judge Robert Patterson, a committee member.

The shorter time frame "will prevent or minimize any stale warrants,"
Patterson said.

Also serving on the committee were state Public Defender David Kaplan and
city Safety Manager Butch Montoya.

Not everyone was pleased with the recommendations.

"I don't see any real changes," said Cynthia Gallegos, co-chair of the
Justice for Mena Committee. "It's a waste of taxpayers' money."

She said the mayor's committee ignored the input of her organization and
may have violated the state's open-meetings law.

"They could not come up with true findings because they're reviewing
themselves," she said. "It was their agencies that killed Ismael Mena. . .
. They still have not accepted responsibility for Ismael's death."

But Ritter said the committee had met with the American Civil Liberties
Union, the Justice for Mena organization and neighborhood groups before
making its recommendations.

Mark Silverstein, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, endorsed the
recommendations as welcome reform.

"They won't solve the entire problem but will reduce the number of no-knock
raids without compromising the police ability to enforce the law,"
Silverstein said. "I think the recommendations recognize at least tacitly
that even if everything in officer Bini's affidavit had been true, the
warrant should never have been issued."

Bini has been charged with perjury in the case, and the city agreed to pay
the Mena family $400,000. Mena left a wife and nine children.

The case drew in Mexican Consul Carlos Barros, who intervened on behalf of
Mena's family.

"I just hope this will lead to better handling of these situations and that
no more innocent people will die for the wrong reasons," Barros said Tuesday.

Staff writer Bruce Finley contributed to this report.

(SIDEBAR)

PROPOSED CHANGES

Recommended changes to Denver's no-knock raid policies:

Require additional training for all Denver police officers, prosecutors and
Denver County Court judges.

All requests for immediate-entry search warrants should first be carefully
evaluated by Denver police supervisors for necessity and utility.

Any request for an immediate-entry search warrant should be scrutinized and
thoroughly reviewed by express process and procedure.

All Denver police requests for immediate-entry search warrants must be
scrutinized and thoroughly reviewed and expressly approved by a prosecutor
before presentation to any judicial authority.

Any request for an immediate-entry search warrant shall be clearly and
repeatedly designated as such.

All requests for immediate-entry search warrants will have clearly
designated the bases - all of which must be supported by reasonable
suspicion - for the request of an immediate entry.

All immediate-entry search warrants should be executed within three days
after judicial approval has been obtained.

THE PANEL

Members of the special committee appointed to review Denver's no-knock raid
policies:

David Kaplan, Colorado public defender
Fidel "Butch" Montoya, Denver manager of public safety
Robert Patterson, presiding judge of the Denver County Court
Bill Ritter, Denver district attorney
Gerry Whitman, acting Denver police chief