TELL US ABOUT THE SHOOTER, NOT THE VICTIM

Your article on the mistaken shooting death of Rudy Cardenas (Page 1C,
Feb. 20) asked all the wrong questions.

You assumed that we all wanted to know why Cardenas ran when being
chased. We don't. We want to know how a state drug agent could kill a
father of five and then hear officials say the wrong man was shot.
Your article assumed we wanted to know about the criminal history of
the deceased. We don't. Yet the article laid out Cardenas' run-ins
with the law -- as if to say that since he did time, he kind of
deserved his execution.

What we want to know is the history of the state agent. Does he have a
record of violence? Has he been investigated before? What does his
psychological profile look like? These are the questions I had when I
went to a vigil for Rudy Cardenas. I also want to know how many more
vigils for innocent people I will have to attend in San Jose.

Raj Jayadev

San Jose