DRUG TRIAL MOVES FORWARD

Man Is Accused Of Selling Cocaine From The Back Office Of His Dollar
Store

West Bend - A judge refused Wednesday to delay the trial of a man who
is accused of selling cocaine from the back office of his dollar store
and ordered the trial to proceed Dec. 1.

Jose Chavez-Rivas, 32, is charged with three counts of drug delivery,
including one drug deal that allegedly took place at his Dollar
Discount store at 869 S. Main St. in West Bend.

During a lengthy hearing Wednesday, Chavez-Rivas tried to get his
trial postponed so he could have an independent lab analysis of the
drugs that officers said they bought from him.

Washington County Circuit Court Judge Annette Ziegler asked defense
attorney John Birdsall if he had an expert in mind. Birdsall said no
because he still was waiting on reports from the district attorney.

"Well, then, I'd say it's premature to request an adjournment if you
don't know what the reports might say, and you don't even know if
you're going to want or need an expert," she said.

Birdsall also asked the judge to intervene in two requests for
information he made to the Washington County district attorney's
office. He said he was seeking all procedures and manuals from the
Sheriff's Department as well as the personnel file of the undercover
agent involved in the case.

Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Hanson told the judge she was
sure there were policies, procedures and guidelines galore, but said
Birdsall's request was too broad and was irrelevant to the case.

Ziegler agreed and then asked about the release of the personnel
records for Mario Altuzar, the undercover detective.

"Any information the department holds, I have a strange feeling, a
strong feeling I'll get denied with an open records request and it
would require litigation," Birdsall said.

Ziegler told Birdsall he needed to request the information from the
department and see what came of the request.

Chavez-Rivas was one of a dozen men picked up in June as a result of
an 18-month undercover operation run by the Washington County
Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Group. The operation netted more
than 2 pounds of cocaine as evidence.

Complaints have been filed against nearly two dozen others since the
first wave of arrests. Those complaints have charged people with
crimes including possession of marijuana and cocaine to manufacturing
marijuana.

Chavez-Rivas remains free on bail and is expected to return to court
Dec. 1 for his jury trial. If convicted, Chavez-Rivas could spend 115
years in prison.