TRIAL ALLEGES D.C. POLICE FAILED TO PROTECT INFORMANT

It was the worst possible outcome of an undercover drug buy. It happened in
Southwest Washington nearly two years ago: Eric Butera, an informant working
with D.C. police, was attacked by three men and stomped to death.

Although the alleged assailants have been convicted, Butera's mother
believes others share responsibility. She's in U.S. District Court in
Washington this week, pursuing a $115 million civil lawsuit against the D.C.
police department.

Terry Butera's lawsuit maintains that D.C. police enlisted her son in a
dangerous operation and didn't take appropriate steps to protect him, then
were nowhere to be found when he was beaten and robbed. She has targeted the
D.C. government as well as the four police investigators on the case.

The trial, which began Tuesday, focuses on an unseemly aspect of law
enforcement that usually gets little public attention. Although police
routinely use informants to help them develop cases, often by making
undercover drug buys, the informants rarely are killed. Butera's death calls
into question the procedures used by D.C. police, at least on the night of
Dec. 4, 1997.

Peter C. Grenier, the family's attorney, told jurors in opening statements
that Butera suffered "the most ghastly, excruciating death one can imagine,"
adding, "Terry Butera doesn't want your sympathy. She wants justice."

Assistant Corporation Counsel Thomas L. Koger countered that protecting
Butera was a top priority for police and that each step of the operation was
reviewed with the informant. Police "never abandoned" Butera, Koger insisted.

"These controlled buys are done on a daily basis in the District of Columbia
and you never hear of them," Koger said. "This one is a horrible exception,
and it's a horrible exception because on this night three monsters savagely
attacked Eric Butera. . . . Eric Butera was the victim of opportunity."

Butera, 31, who had a history of drug abuse, was attempting to turn his life
around when he went to police saying he had information that could help them
solve a triple slaying at a Starbucks coffee shop. According to Butera, he
had overheard people talking about the slayings several months earlier when
he bought drugs in a row house in the 1000 block of Delaware Avenue SW.

Homicide detectives, who at the time were struggling to solve the Starbucks
case, asked Butera to make another drug buy in the house so they could get a
warrant to search the place. They gave him $80 in marked bills and drove him
into the neighborhood in hopes he could buy crack cocaine.

Yesterday, two of the supervisors on the detail--Lt. Brian McAllister and
Sgt. Nicholas Breul--defended themselves as Grenier and co-counsel Saul Jay
Singer attacked their handling of the operation. The lawyers contended that
police were not in position to see Butera and should have equipped him with
a monitor or transmitting device that would have alerted them to any trouble.

McAllister testified that Butera told police he had worked as an informant
in the past and was comfortable with the arrangements. McAllister said the
plan called for Breul and detectives Anthony Brigidini and Anthony Patterson
to be in the area but far enough away from the row house that they wouldn't
generate suspicion. Breul testified that he and Patterson were roughly a
block away in one car and that Brigidini was nearby in another. Breul said
he and Patterson unrolled their car window in case there were any "screams
or gunshots."

As it turned out, Butera was turned away at the house. While making his way
back into the courtyard, he was attacked by two men, who left him bleeding
on the ground. Moments later, a third man came by and repeatedly kicked him
in the head. None of the detectives was in position to see the beatings, and
it wasn't until 40 minutes after Brigidini dropped Butera off that they even
realized something was wrong. A neighborhood resident called 911, and patrol
officers, not the detectives, were the first to discover Butera's body.

McAllister, who was at the homicide unit's headquarters that night,
testified that Breul called him and said, "They killed our source."

Breul testified he and Patterson drove through the area, as did Brigidini,
but they didn't see anything in the darkness. Acknowledging that Butera told
police he usually completed his drug deals within 15 minutes, Breul
testified, "in hindsight, a time limit should have been set, yes."

Grenier maintained that that was one of many lapses contributing to Butera's
death and that police violated at least 10 departmental orders. The
department later launched an internal investigation and decided against
pursuing disciplinary action against the supervisors or detectives. Over the
next week, the trial in Judge June L. Green's courtroom will delve into the
views of experts on police tactics. Brigidini and Patterson are to testify
today.

Although Butera's tip looked promising at the time, officials said no one in
the house had anything to do with the Starbucks case. Another suspect, Carl
Derek Havord Cooper, is awaiting trial on federal murder charges.