WITNESS: PEDRO OREGON DEALT DRUGS

Brother Of Man Killed By Police Avoids Testifying In Officer's Case

A man slain by police during a botched drug raid helped his brothers
deal crack cocaine and agreed to supply it the night of his death,
jurors were told Tuesday by the informant who gave officers a tip.

But that testimony was overshadowed by a legal fight to keep the dead
man's brother from testifying in the misdemeanor criminal trespass
trial of former Houston police Officer James Willis, who is charged in
connection with the shooting.

As a result, jurors in Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law Judge Neel
Richardson's court did not hear from Pedro Navarro Oregon's brother,
Rogelio, who invoked his right against self-incrimination and whose
attorney parlayed that into a ticket off the witness stand.

Rogelio Oregon, considered a key witness in the case, took the stand
with the jurors out of the room. He has previously balked at
testifying in Willis' case and invoked the Fifth Amendment when
prosecutor Ed Porter asked him his address.

Porter then quickly offered him "use immunity," freeing him to testify
about the night his brother was killed and any criminal acts without
fear of prosecution. With such a pact in place, Richardson could have
forced Oregon to testify.

But, by law, the deal couldn't include immunity from perjury charges,
and Oregon's attorney, Chris Flood, argued that prosecutors were
laying a trap for his client.

Flood said prosecutors would indict Oregon on perjury charges over
small inconsistencies between his previous grand jury testimony and
what he would say in court.

State law, however, allows for small inconsistencies in such
situations. To be convicted of perjury, prosecutors have to prove that
someone has an intent to deceive.

But Flood said Oregon didn't feel the trial of Willis was in good
faith and that normal rules regarding perjury cases would be suspended
by prosecutors attempting to target him.

Flood repeatedly has said the case against Willis is being used as a
vehicle to "clear" the officers and vindicate the position the Harris
County district attorney's office has taken on the shooting, something
prosecutors vehemently deny.

Attorneys for the Oregon family say the relatives prefer cooperating
with federal officials, who are conducting their own probe.

Richardson ruled that the "use immunity" couldn't be enforced because
Oregon could use the Fifth Amendment to avoid possible perjury charges.

The judge didn't quash the subpoena that brought Oregon to court, but
his ruling effectively killed the usefulness of his testimony.
Prosecutors moved to their next witness and rested minutes later.

Richardson also denied a defense motion for an instructed verdict of
not guilty.

Prosecutor Porter would not comment on whether Oregon's refusal to
testify hurt his case.

The witness who took up most of the day was Ryan Baxter, 29, who has
been jailed on two drug charges unrelated to the Pedro Oregon incident.

Flood said later that Baxter's testimony was just a way for
prosecutors to justify the police killing of Pedro Oregon, and he said
his client was not a drug dealer.

Baxter told jurors that on the evening of July 11, Willis and his
partner stopped him and two teen-agers. The trio had been drinking
beer and smoking crack cocaine Baxter said they had bought from
Rogelio Oregon.

He testified he had bought crack from Oregon for three years. He said
if he couldn't get drugs from Oregon, then he would get them from
Pedro Oregon or a third Oregon brother.

Baxter, already on probation for drug possession, was arrested for
giving beer to the teens and for having the materials needed to make a
crack pipe.

He told police he could deliver his dealer if they cut him loose,
testimony showed. At the prompting of Willis' supervisor, Baxter made
contact with Oregon via Willis' personal cell phone and set up a
meeting to buy 10 rocks of crack at a fast-food restaurant.

The police took Baxter to the restaurant and waited, testimony showed.
Nothing happened, and Baxter said he called Oregon's apartment and
spoke to Pedro Oregon, who refused to come to the restaurant.

Pedro Oregon told him to come to the nearby apartment on Atwell to
pick up the drugs, Baxter said. The informant went there with Willis
and five other officers, and no one answered the door.

Baxter told jurors police were taking him to jail when he made one
last attempt to contact Oregon, who called him back and said to come
over to the apartment again to get the drugs.

The officers went back and Willis' supervisor told Baxter to get
Rogelio Oregon to open the door and then lie on the floor to keep it
from closing, a key point that prosecutors say proves that Willis
didn't have consent to go into the apartment.

Baxter said he heard no one ask for or give consent for police entry.
But he testified that he did see the officers passing over him to
enter the apartment and that he heard them identifying themselves. He
said he crawled out of the apartment after hearing someone yell that a
suspect had a gun and shooting started.

According to prosecutors, one officer accidentally fired his weapon at
Pedro Oregon, who was in a back bedroom. Some of the others, not
Willis, opened fire on Pedro Oregon, hitting him 12 times, nine in the
back.

Some of the officers have said Pedro Oregon pointed a gun at them. He
did have a gun, but it was not fired. The officers had no arrest or
search warrants, and no drugs were found in the apartment.

After a lengthy Harris County grand jury investigation, only Willis,
28, was indicted on the misdemeanor charge. All six officers have been
fired.

When that grand jury inquiry ended, the FBI and federal grand jury
probe began and the multimillion-dollar federal civil rights suit was
filed.