LAWYER: DEA IGNORED COP'S MENTAL PROBLEM

Medical records sought for agent

A federal drug agent who awoke in a drunken stupor last year and shot a
fellow agent now accuses the Drug Enforcement Administration of withholding
evidence they knew he had ``Jekyll/Hyde'' tendencies and let him keep his
job regardless.

An attorney for Richard Fekete, who turned 56 in Broward County Jail on
Aug. 30, has asked prosecutors for help in obtaining medical records
``which are obviously being withheld by the Drug Enforcement
Administration,'' according to a Sept. 16 letter.

Those records include psychiatric evaluations, medical reports about brain
damage from a 1993 fall, and papers explaining why Fekete was allowed to
return to active duty despite a DEA psychiatrist's 1995 diagnosis of a
``mental health condition'' and conclusion that ``an overseas assignment
would pose an undue risk.''

A DEA spokesman in Washington declined to comment on the allegations.

``If he was an undue risk to send overseas, why are they putting him back
on active duty here?'' said Glenn Kritzer, Fekete's Miami attorney. ``They
have all these warning signs that he was unfit for duty and what do they
do? Do they put him in Arlington to teach classes?

``No, they hand him a gun and put him in Chicago to do undercover work. And
now they're trying to hide what they knew,'' he said. ``I can only assume
they're worried about civil liability.''

The widow of Shaun Curl, Fekete's victim, plans to sue the DEA for allowing
Fekete to keep his job. Fekete was a known alcoholic who suffered blackouts
and was sent home from Panama after holding a gun to his wife's head.

Curl, a backup group supervisor, agreed to drive a drunken Fekete home
after a Christmas party on Dec. 12. Curl was shot seven times while driving
on U.S. 27 in Miramar. Fekete, a 32-year veteran whose undercover work from
the jungles of Panama to the Florida Straits is almost legendary, had a
blood-alcohol content of .269 percent -- more than three times the legal
driving limit.

Fekete says he doesn't remember the shooting. He is pleading not guilty to
a charge of second-degree murder by reason of ``alcohol-induced
psychosis.''

Curl left a wife, Kathy, and two children.

``Mr. Fekete's complete medical history is relevant to Kathy Curl's
potential claims against the United States, as well as the issues involved
in his criminal trial,'' said Katherine Ezell, Kathy Curl's attorney.

In a six-page letter to Broward homicide prosecutor Pete Magrino, Kritzer
claims the DEA has not turned over several records about Fekete.

Kritzer said he knows the records exist because of references to them in
documents disclosed by the U.S. State Department, which had custody of the
records while Fekete was overseas but forwarded them to DEA when he was
transferred to Washington, Chicago and finally Miami.

For instance:

A Jan. 4, 1995, memo from State Department employee George Sweeney that
summarizes a psychiatric report on Fekete and his wife that ``reveals loss
of control, personality change characterized by a propensity to physical
abuse on both their parts, both revealing a Jekyll/Hyde consequence of
intake.'' Kritzer said he got the memo from the State Department, but has
not received the actual report from the DEA.

A Sept. 27,1994, memo from DEA medical officer William Wright ordering ``no
overseas work, aggressive law enforcement or firearms use until copy of
current medical exam and report of assessment and treatment of medical
condition is provided'' and a Nov. 24 Medical Clearance giving Fekete
``limited clearance for overseas assignment.''

There is no medical exam or report of assessment or treatment of medical
condition, Kritzer says.

Several memos and reports referring to Fekete's hospitalization after a
1993 fall in the line of duty, but no actual medical or hospital reports.

Magrino said Tuesday that it took a court order from Broward Circuit Judge
Paul Backman to get many records regarding Fekete, but ``the federal
government has assured me we have everything they have.''

``I'm doing my best to follow up to see if there are any records missing,''
Magrino said.

Copyright 1998 The Miami Herald

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson