GRAND JURY INDICTS STATE AGENT IN CARDENAS DEATH

Arrest Warrant Issued For Michael Walker

A Santa Clara County criminal grand jury Wednesday indicted a state
narcotics agent for shooting and killing Rodolfo Cardenas in a downtown San
Jose alley on Feb. 17.

The indictment was sealed, so it was no immediately clear whether the
18-member panel had indicted Michael Walker for manslaughter or second
degree murder.

Presiding Superior Court Judge Thomas Hastings issued an arrest warrant for
Walker, who shot and killed Cardenas after state agents chased him because
they mistakenly believed he was a fugitive parolee.

Twelve out of the 18 grand jurors supported the indictment.

Outside the courtroom, Cardenas family members burst into tears and praised
Jesus Christ.

"Justice has been served in Santa Clara County today," said Raul Cardenas,
Rodolfo Cardenas' brother.

Grand jurors had been deliberating since yesterday on whether there is
sufficient evidence to indict Walker, a state Buureau of Narcotics
Enforcement undercover agent.

In order to indict someone for manslaughter, a grand jury must find the
person did not have a reasonable belief that he or she was in danger. To
indict for murder, they must also find the person did not have a good-faith
belief of such danger.

On Feb. 17, 43-year-old Cardenas was mistaken for a fugitive parolee and
fled from state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agents who chased him at
high speeds through downtown San Jose streets. Walker, 32, caught up to
Cardenas in an alley near the intersection of St. James and North Fourth
streets. He shot and killed Cardenas, and claims it was in self-defense.

During his closing statement Tuesday, Prosecutor Lane Liroff, whose role in
this tribunal was only to present evidence, outlined "a series of fatal
assumptions" he said contributed to Cardenas' death.

Cardenas, a purported drug dealer who was high on methamphetamine at the
time of the shooting, was mistakenly identified as the agents' target. He
fled from the undercover agents, first in a van and then on foot.

State narcotics agents acted like "children in the street playing football"
who huddled briefly to make out a play, Liroff said Tuesday.

Agents lacked the proper equipment to communicate with each other and
outside police agencies, and exaggerated the potential threat of their
targeted parolee, David Gonzales. He was described in testimony by his
parole agent as non-threatening, but narcotics agents in their subsequent
reports labeled him a high-risk felon.

"They held on to that and tried to use it to justify what they did," Liroff
said.

On the stand, some agents contradicted statements made previously to
investigators, or else they were evasive about their own internal
guidelines for apprehending suspects. Liroff suggested a cover-up.

Representatives from the Department of Justice, which oversees the Bureau
of Narcotic Enforcement, attended the hearing but declined comment, saying
only that the grand jury process is one-sided.

Finally, according to the prosecutor, overzealous agents risked public
safety by engaging in a high-speed chase.

Department of Justice spokeswoman Hallye Jordan on Tuesday denied the
accusation.

"Pursuit policies are in place to protect the public," Jordan said Tuesday.
"In this case the pursuit was instigated by an individual who was fleeing
police. He went through stop signs at excessive speeds. Our policy calls
for us to not endanger the public, and we did not do so."

Walker has maintained that Cardenas was carrying what appeared to be a gun,
and that he fired only after the victim turned on his heels and appeared
ready to attack.

But his own supervisor, Steve Davies, testified that Walker told him he
shot Cardenas in the back as he was running away.

Walker's criminal defense attorney vehemently denied Davies' statement.

"Why would he tell his supervisor he shot a guy in the back? He didn't say
that," Todd Simonson said Tuesday outside the courthouse after the grand
jury began its deliberations.