AGENT INDICTED IN S.J. DEATH TO HEAR CHARGE IN CASE MONDAY

State narcotics agent Michael Walker, accused of fatally shooting a San
Jose man in a botched pursuit earlier this year, will appear in a Santa
Clara County courtroom Monday afternoon to hear the criminal charge against
him.

Walker, 33, who a criminal grand jury indicted Wednesday for the Feb. 17
shooting death of Rodolfo "Rudy" Cardenas, is scheduled to be arraigned at
1:30 p.m. in Department 24 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, court
officials said. The contents of the indictment will remain sealed until his
arraignment, but a source close to the case said Walker was charged with
voluntary manslaughter.

The former Watsonville police officer-turned state drug agent remained free
on his own recognizance Thursday and on paid administrative leave from his
$70,000-a-year-job with the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, while reaction
to the unprecedented indictment of a state agent continued to mount.

San Jose Police Officers' Association President Don DeMers has long been
critical of holding an open grand jury into officer-involved shootings,
describing it as an "unnecessary" exercise muddied by politics and the media.

"To drag the officer right out in the public doesn't serve anyone except a
political interest, primary the DA," said DeMers, who accuses the district
attorney's office of grandstanding in the Cardenas case -- an allegation he
plans to discuss with District Attorney George Kennedy in September.

Felicita Vu Ngo, an attorney representing the family of Bich Cau Thi Tran,
the woman fatally shot by San Jose police last year, affirmed the value of
holding an open public grand jury into officer-involved shootings. Though
the officer was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the Tran case, Ngo
said the open hearing can increase the public's trust in the process.

"It is important, especially when there is an issue of mistrust, a feeling
that the law enforcement community will protect their own," she said. "It's
not a perfect process. . . . But in this case, it showed that there was
justice."

The grand jury panel, which usually deliberates in secret, indicted Walker
on Wednesday before a courtroom packed with the victim's relatives,
supporters and the media. The panel, which only hears from the district
attorney's office, does not determine guilt or innocence, only if there is
enough evidence to place someone on trial.

Cardenas, 43, was mistaken for a fugitive parolee and gunned down on Feb.
17 during a botched pursuit in downtown San Jose.

Walker testified that he believed Cardenas was armed with a gun and acted
in self-defense when he pulled the trigger near a retirement home. Cardenas
was shot in the back; no gun was found.

If convicted on the charge, Walker could face up to 11 years in prison. He
is the first state Department of Justice agent to be indicted for killing
someone in the line of duty.