OREGON POLICE GOT `RAW DEAL'

Union chief backs officers in shooting

Testimony in the upcoming criminal trespass trial of an ex-officer charged
in connection with the shooting of Pedro Oregon Navarro will show that the
officers involved got "a raw deal," a Houston police union leader said
Monday.

"I think you're going to see that Mr. Oregon was not all he's been made out
to be by earlier media reports, and I think people will see he's more than a
soccer player and a lawn guy," said Hans Marticiuc, Houston Police Officers
Union president. "He (Oregon) may not have been arrested for anything, but
there was some gang activity in his past."

Richard Mithoff, the attorney representing Oregon's family, balked at
Marticiuc's comments and accused him of engaging in character assassination
on the eve of the criminal trial.

Mithoff, who is representing Oregon's family in the federal lawsuit, said
Monday that Marticiuc's comments only make what happened to Oregon worse.

"I think it only compounds the tragedy for the police officers or their
spokesman to now be assassinating the character of Pedro Oregon, having
already killed him once," Mithoff said. "Whatever personal matters are
dragged out about him or his family cannot undo his unlawful and unjustified
killing at their hands."

Mithoff said he is not aware of any criminal activities in Oregon's past,
and he doesn't know what Marticiuc is referring to.

Jury selection starts early today in Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law
Judge Neel Richardson's court in the misdemeanor trial of former Houston
police Officer James Willis, 28.

It was unclear Monday how long jury selection would last because of the
high-profile nature of the case and because Willis' attorney, Brian Benken,
has said he will ask for a change of venue hearing if it becomes clear that
a fair jury panel cannot be selected.

Willis was the only officer charged in connection with the July 12 death of
Oregon. He and five other officers burst into Oregon's residence after
receiving a tip from an informant that drugs were being sold.

The officers opened fire on Oregon, a soccer enthusiast and landscaper,
after another officer accidentally fired his weapon. Oregon was shot 12
times, including nine times in the back.

The officers always have contended Oregon was armed and pointed a gun at
them. But the officers did not have an arrest or search warrant, and
Oregon's gun had not been fired.

No drugs were found in the apartment or in Oregon's system.

The circumstances of the shooting touched off a controversy. Protesters and
supporters of Oregon's family called for serious criminal charges and heaped
criticism on the Houston Police Department and later on the Harris County
district attorney's office when Willis was the only one indicted after a
lengthy grand jury probe.

All six officers eventually were fired. The case also has spawned a
multimillion-dollar federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Oregon's family
against the city and a continuing FBI probe into the shooting.

Marticiuc's group is helping four of the officers, including Willis, appeal
their firings.

The union president said everyone was so concerned about the bad publicity
surrounding the shooting that the officers were denied their rights and
wrongfully vilified.

"Everyone was so concerned about due process for our dead complainant that
they forgot the due process rights of the officers," Marticiuc said. "They
(the officers) got a raw deal here and that will become clear."

Mithoff, meanwhile, was critical of the grand jury investigation when that
panel indicted only Willis in connection with the shooting.

Prosecutor Ed Porter will not say why Willis was the only officer charged in
the case.

A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation, who requested
anonymity, speculated that it might be because Willis didn't come across
well when he testified in front of grand jurors.

"He (Willis) wasn't the first in the door and he had nothing to do with the
planning of the raid and he did no shooting," the source said. "It was
probably his attitude (in front of grand jurors) because he was amazed that
it was coming to this."

Porter and Benken could not be reached for comment on that theory, but both
have agreed in past interviews that the trial will provide an opportunity to
clear up what they say are misconceptions about the case.

Both have been critical of media coverage of the shooting and said testimony
will show that Oregon was armed, that officers did not kick in the door to
his residence or shot the locks off and that they didn't rush immediately
into the botched raid after talking to the informant.

Benken and Porter also said testimony will show that an "incorrect spin" has
been put on the gunshot wounds to Oregon's back.

Benken has said previous reports have made it seem that Oregon was shot in
the back while standing or lying down. But he said the trajectory of the
wounds indicates that those shots entered Oregon's body as he moved toward
officers.

That, Porter has said, would be consistent with what officers say happened
once they entered the apartment.

Willis might take the witness stand during the trial and the six jurors
needed for a misdemeanor case may also hear from the other officers
involved.

The charge against Willis is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a
year in jail and a $4,000 fine. Testimony is expected to start immediately
after a jury is picked.