POLICE BRASS SILENT ON NO-KNOCK ERROR
Chief Ordered Internal Inquiry, But Even Leader Of Swat Team That Shot
Mena Was Kept In Dark

Within hours of the Sept. 29 shooting death of a man in a drug raid,
top Denver police officials realized there might be a problem.

Outgoing Police Chief Tom Sanchez said Wednesday he was told on the
same afternoon that Ismael Mena was killed that "there was some
impropriety" in an affidavit used to obtain a "no-knock" search warrant.

Sanchez immediately ordered an internal investigation.

But Denver police officials didn't publicly admit that a mistake had
been made until it was reported in the media two months later.

Wednesday, Sanchez stood by the decision.

"We don't publicize internal affairs cases," he said. "What if we
publicized it, and the allegations turn out to be false? You've
probably done some major damage to somebody's career, and you can't
put the toothpaste back in the tube."

A special prosecutor eventually was appointed, and Denver police
officer Joe Bini, who wrote the warrant, was charged with felony
perjury Friday.

He was accused of lying in the affidavit and was suspended without pay
pending the outcome of his case.

The special prosecutor, Jefferson County District Attorney Dave
Thomas, exonerated the SWAT team that shot and killed Mena because the
45-year-old man refused to drop his .22-caliber revolver and
eventually fired three shots at officers.

Andrew Hudson, spokesman for Mayor Wellington Webb, also defended the
decision to refrain from acknowledging the mistake until an
investigation into the incident was complete.

That low level of communication also went on inside the
department.

"We started hearing the rumors the very next day," said Capt. Vince
DiManna, leader of the SWAT team that carried out the raid.

Among them: that the warrant had the wrong address, and as a result
the SWAT team hit the wrong house.

But when he asked around the department, he always got the same
answer: "It's under investigation."

It wasn't until last Friday, when the special prosecutor filed the
perjury charges and concluded that the warrant targeted the wrong
house that he finally knew for sure what happened, DiManna said.

Sanchez said the process for obtaining a no-knock warrant -- which is
reviewed by a prosecutor and a judge -- should help ensure that they
are accurate.

"If somebody's untruthful in an affidavit, it's tough to prevent
that," Sanchez said.