NOW SOME ANSWERS

Indictments Mean Public Airing Of Pedro Oregon Killing

The federal indictment of two former Houston police officers in the
July 1998 shooting death of Pedro Oregon Navarro seems entirely
appropriate.

The charge of conspiring to violate Oregon's civil rights is a deadly
serious one, and the circumstances of the case should give us all pause.

Former Sgt. Darrell H. Strouse, 35, and former Officer James R.
Willis, 29, were accused of violating the rights of Oregon and his
brother, Rogelio, to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures
when they, and four other officers, entered Rogelio Oregon's apartment
July 12, 1998, in an alleged drug raid.

Neither Strouse nor Willis were involved in the shooting, which itself
occurred under questionable circumstances in Oregon's bedroom, but
prosecutors said the officers did not have a search warrant or the
consent of Rogelio Oregon.

Asked why the other four officers were not indicted, Assistant U.S.
Attorney John Lenoir said: "This is just what the jury found to be
sustained by the evidence, and we cannot comment on the deliberations
of the grand jury or the working of the grand jury."

A state grand jury previously indicted only one of the six police
officers, Willis, on a charge of misdemeanor trespassing. He was acquitted.

An indictment in no way equates with a conviction, and Houstonians
should keep that point in mind.

But this strange case has been the subject of too much speculation and
too many questions, and now the likelihood is that a fuller picture of
what occurred will be brought out in open court.

Pedro Oregon and the police officers deserve justice. And Houston
citizens deserve to have such answers.