PHONY DRUG CASES PUT DALLAS POLICE, PROSECUTORS ON HOT SEAT

DALLAS -- The cases unfolded -- and unraveled -- one by one: drug bust after
drug bust in which investigators later found little or no drugs in the
evidence that was seized.

The FBI is examining the role of Dallas police and prosecutors in about 70
drug cases -- involving more than 40 defendants -- dismissed in recent
months after lab tests revealed fake drugs or tiny amounts of the real thing
mixed with large amounts of gypsum.

Whether it's a case of corruption or a massive system failure remains to be
seen. But the botched cases have spilled over into the race for district
attorney and angered the newly elected mayor. Some victims have threatened
civil rights lawsuits, and Hispanic advocacy groups are calling for the
resignations of the district attorney, city manager and police chief.

"It's the worst law enforcement scandal I've heard of in the Northern
District of Texas in the 20 years I've practiced here," said Paul Coggins, a
former U.S. attorney.

The scandal began unfolding last fall, when prosecutors notified Dallas
police of evidence tests showing little or no illegal drugs. But defense
attorneys say they had beseeched District Attorney Bill Hill to look into
the cases long before that.

Hill defends his office, saying his prosecutors were first to discover the
problem and send the evidence for lab tests. He said his staff found a
pattern in some of the cases in early November and within two weeks halted
all prosecutions involving two police officers and their informant, even
though some of those cases may have been valid.

The Police Department placed the two narcotics detectives on administrative
leave.

Police Chief Terrell Bolton has declined requests for interviews with The
Associated Press. The FBI also declined to give details, citing its
investigation.

Glenn White, president of the Dallas Police Association, defended his
suspended colleagues.

"They went out and did their job and they happened to have an informant that
is unreliable," White said. "The informant realized if he delivered large
amounts, he'd get more money."

Critics say police and county officials had several clues that the busts
weren't legitimate. They question why Hill's office had not ordered lab
tests before indicting defendants based on uncorroborated field tests by the
arresting officers.

"How did these field tests, if they were actually run, mistake gypsum for
cocaine?" Coggins asked.

White said most district attorneys and federal agents in Texas require lab
tests before indicting suspects in large drug busts. Field tests are
notoriously unreliable; something as innocuous as aspirin can test positive
as cocaine, he said.

"This is not a corruption case," White said. "It's a system failed."

Dallas County's policy had been to hold off on more conclusive lab tests
until trial. In some cases, defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges and
were jailed or deported. The new policy calls for lab tests before indicting
suspects.

Former Dallas County prosecutor Robert Montserrat blamed lack of supervision
in the Police Department and poor communication in the overworked district
attorney's office. Because the growing drug caseload is spread among several
prosecutors, a pattern of inconsistency is harder to spot, he said.

"The cops are not watching each other," Montserrat said. "The DA's office is
not watching the cops."

Tarrant County District Attorney Tim Curry said his office has always
required a lab test before proceeding with an indictment. He called Dallas
County's previous policy "a pretty sloppy way to handle it."

Bob Baskett, the attorney for Senior Cpl. Mark Delapaz, one of the narcotics
officers, said his client did not conduct the initial field tests and didn't
know the drugs were fake. He said drug dealers may have set up the
informant, who was paid up to $200,000 by police.

"There are lots of theories that people knew this informant was an informant
so they were messing with him. Another is the informant, who was getting
paid by the kilo, was rolling the dice to get a bunch of money," Baskett
said.

No telephone number could be found for Eddie Herrera, the other officer
implicated.

The informant, Jose Guadalupe Ruiz, 33, is now jailed without bond for
returning to Texas after he was deported in February on old charges of
failing to appear at a 1999 hearing on a weapons violation. That same year,
he became an informant in a deal struck after a drug arrest. His attorney,
William Nellis, said Ruiz has cooperated with authorities and should be
released on bail.

The issue is a major thorn for Hill, who is running for a second term this
fall. His Democratic opponent, lawyer Craig Watkins, has criticized Hill's
handling of the cases.

"He just wasn't doing his job," Watkins said. "He should have been on top of
it and knew the policy that had been there for many years was outdated."

Mayor Laura Miller has asked Bolton and City Manager Ted Benavides to brief
the council, something they have yet to do publicly. Both men have said the
ongoing investigation and pending civil lawsuits prevent them from
discussing details.

Several Latino advocacy groups have demanded the resignations of Hill,
Bolton and Benavides because many of the defendants were Mexican nationals.