CASE TAINTED, CONVICTION REVERSED

A county judge made the rare move Wednesday of tossing out a closed year-old
drug case where the defendant had already been found guilty -- because
prosecutors now say the suspect was framed by police officers who are
themselves now under arrest.

The same day Freddy Castro's record was wiped clean, his lawyer sent a
letter to Miami-Dade Police demanding $100,000 for false arrest, false
imprisonment and violating Castro's civil rights.

Castro, 26, was arrested at his Kendall apartment in May last year along
with two roommates. Miami-Dade narcotics detectives said Castro had four
grams of marijuana tucked under his mattress.

Castro pleaded no contest three months later to a misdemeanor drug
possession charge and was sentenced to time served.

"Freddy believed that if four police officers testified one way, and he
testified another, nobody would believe him," said Castro's attorney, Ron
Guralnick. "It was a plea of convenience."

A full year later, Miami-Dade Police investigators disclosed that they now
believe Castro was set up by the very detectives who arrested him. Castro is
cleared, but the officers face a variety of criminal charges.

Investigators learned that two women had been caught with drugs outside
Castro's Kendall Creek apartment minutes before Castro's arrest. The women
told police where they purchased their stash, and were let go.

Officers went in, allegedly found more drugs, but could not find any linked
directly to Castro. Investigators later determined that the detectives took
the marijuana confiscated from the two women and planted it under Castro's
mattress.

"There were three people living in an apartment, but they couldn't associate
him with the drugs," Guralnick said. "They thought, `He must be guilty, if
he's living in the same apartment with these other people.' "

The narcotics team was subsequently arrested last month, charged with false
arrest and lying about the case during sworn statements. The three officers
and their supervisor -- Andre B. Vaughn, Florencio Boucourt, Hector J.
Llevat, and Sgt. Jose Diaz -- vehemently deny the accusations.

Based on the new charges against the officers, Miami-Dade County Judge Kevin
Emas made the unusual move of allowing Castro to withdraw his plea
Wednesday. Then he threw the case out. Prosecutors did not object.

"It's all undone," said Edward Griffith, personal assistant to Miami-Dade
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "To go back and undo a conviction
is pretty unusual, but we had no problem with it."