HPD PANEL IS REVIEWING OREGON CASE

The Houston Police Department has completed its internal investigation into
the shooting of Pedro Oregon Navarro, and a disciplinary committee is
reviewing the findings, a department spokesman said Wednesday.

The department's Administrative Discipline Committee is expected to turn any
recommendations it makes over to Chief C.O. Bradford within days, HPD
spokesman Robert Hurst said.

"Then, either he signs off on their recommendations or he has the authority
to change that to whatever degree he feels it needs to be, in his opinion,"
Hurst said.

The Internal Affairs Division completed its investigation and turned its
findings over to the department's Civilian Review Committee late Monday, he
said.

Mayor Lee Brown asked Bradford to expedite the department's investigation,
which had been put on hold while a Harris County grand jury investigated the
incident.

The grand jury last week declined to indict all but one of the six officers
involved in the fatal shooting July 12 at a southwest Houston apartment. The
lone officer indicted, six-year Patrolman James Willis, was charged with
misdemeanor trespassing.

Oregon, 22, died after being shot 12 times -- nine of them in the back -- by
officers who raided the apartment without search or arrest warrants, on a
tip by an informant that drugs were being sold there. Oregon had a gun,
which was found near his body, but it had not been fired. No drugs were
found in the apartment.

The grand jury's decision provoked outrage across Houston from citizens and
elected officials alike and prompted several protests. Two Hispanic law
groups and the League of United Latin American Citizens have called for a
second grand jury investigation.

Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr. said last week that he
does not intend to present the case to another grand jury. He has maintained
that the public has not heard all facts in the case.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the case, in response to
requests from the mayor and the Mexican consulate in Houston.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst