POLICE USE BOY, 14, TO BUY DRUGS IN PROBE

Teen's Role In Case Assailed By Lawyer

Undercover officers knowingly bought $2,980 worth of cocaine from a
14-year-old boy in eight transactions last summer before arresting him and
two adults.

Now a defense attorney trying to get subsequent charges dismissed is raising
legal and ethical questions about police knowingly involving a child in a
drug transaction.

``It is hard to imagine a more outrageous set of circumstances than what
transpired in this case,'' D. Jesse Smith said in a motion filed yesterday
in Pima County Superior Court that alleges governmental misconduct.

Smith maintains the officers committed a series of felony offenses - felony
child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and use of a minor
in a drug transaction - far more serious than what they were investigating.

Not only are drug sales inherently dangerous, Smith said, but police
supplied the boy with a large amount of money he would presumably use to buy
narcotics or fund his business.

``When I found out they knew basically from the get-go he was only 14, I was
truly shocked someone hadn't stopped this before it went any further,'' said
Smith. He represents Peter Amado, 21, who faces trial Feb. 23 on three
charges of unlawful sale of narcotics.

Amado, who is accused of supplying drugs the teen sold to police on three
occasions, is a fugitive.

The Arizona Daily Star is withholding the name of the juvenile.

Several officers assigned to the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Trafficking
Interdiction Squads conducted the investigation between June and September
in response to complaints of drug dealing in a neighborhood near West
Irvington Road and South Sixth Avenue.

Teen Decided To Sell Drugs

``The issue is we didn't put him into business and we weren't making him
sell drugs. That's a decision he made,'' said Tucson police Capt. Kermit
Miller, who supervises MANTIS.

``Defense attorneys have put us in the position where we have to make
multiple buys to make any case - so I think his argument is spurious and
disingenuous,'' Miller said of Smith's filing.

``The only way to put him out of business is to make multiple buys.''

The officers' immediate supervisor, Tucson police Sgt. Kevin Michael
Tennyson, would have been involved in that entire case, Miller said.
Tennyson, who has been reassigned pending the outcome of his Nov. 26 arrest
on suspicion of driving under the influence, could not be reached for
comment yesterday.

Tennyson's former supervisor, Pima County Sheriff's Lt. Ron Benson, said he
would review the case next week because of Smith's filing ``so we can see if
there are any policy matters we need to look at.''

The boy, now 15, has a lengthy juvenile criminal history. In this case,
police arrested him Sept. 24 at Pueblo High School, where he was a freshman.
He faces trial as an adult Feb. 23 on 11 felony charges of selling
narcotics.

``If the charges ran consecutively, he could be looking at more than 150
years,'' said his attorney, Ann Gredziak of the Pima County Legal Defender's
Office.

Gredziak said she planned to file a similar motion to dismiss next week. ``I
will be mentioning that my client was in special education as well as being
only 14,'' she said. The teen has pleaded not guilty.

Gredziak said her client would not speak to the media because of the pending
charges. He lived with his father at the time of his arrest, but Gredziak
said she has had little contact with his family.

``This is the first one I've run up against with defendants this young where
there are multiple sales,'' said Gredziak, whose been with the legal
defender's office almost eight years.

The teen's father could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Deputy County Attorney Bill Dickinson, who supervises drug prosecutions,
said he had not seen Smith's filing.

Drug Dealers Use Kids

In general, he said, the problem is that drug dealers use kids to sell
drugs. The ultimate goal for police is find whoever supplies the juvenile
with drugs, Dickinson said.

Police initially charged Amado with three counts of unlawful sale to a minor
- - which would have substantially increased his prison time, but Judge
Michael Alfred dismissed those charges in December.

Smith maintained that the charges should be dropped because Amada had no
reason to believe the boy was under 18.

Miller confirmed that undercover officers initially thought the boy was at
least 18 when they were referred to him by another suspected dealer. ``That
means he's been in business for awhile, because it's known among other drug
dealers that he can supply it,'' Miller said.

The officers first bought 2.5 grams for $100 on June 28 before they knew the
boy's name. They returned the next day and bought less than 2 grams for
$100, describing the youth in a report as being about 16.

Smith maintains in court documents that officers had learned the boy's true
name and age by July 16, but bought cocaine from him eight more times in
increasing quantities.

The last buy allegedly occurred Sept. 22, when an undercover officer bought
28 grams for $550.

Police could have arrested all three defendants by Aug. 10, Smith said.
``Instead, they continued to actively involve someone they knew was a child
in narcotic transactions for two more months . . . simply to obtain multiple
counts for plea bargaining purposes,'' the attorney said.

A boy that age should have been considered for a rehabilitation program
rather than enhanced punishment, Smith said.

Smith also criticizes police for not telling the boy's juvenile probation
officer that he was violating release conditions and not alerting school
officials to monitor his activities.

``One has to wonder whether law enforcement would have allowed this had (the
boy) attended St. Gregory's, CDO or Foothills High School, as opposed to a
high school in a poor area of Tucson,'' Smith added in a footnote.

Records show the boy was first referred to the Pima County Juvenile Court
Center in August 1997 for possession of marijuana. Prosecutors found
insufficient evidence to prosecute.

Three months later he was placed on probation for felony theft, disorderly
conduct and weapons possession.

He was committed to the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections in August
1998 for criminal trespass, possession of narcotics and joy riding.