TAPES SHOW 3 OFFICERS AT STING SITE

FBI videotapes that allegedly show three former narcotics detectives
looting a West Avenue apartment - and doing a bad job of it - were shown
Tuesday to jurors in their federal court trial.

The three officers are seen searching the apartment, which FBI agents had
made to look like a drug dealer's stash house and had outfitted with hidden
cameras.

But the three officers, identified as defendants Darnyl Parker, John Ferby
and David Rodriguez, apparently failed to see a plastic bag - stuffed with
$12,000 in cash - that the FBI had left under a mattress on the floor of a
bedroom.

FBI Agent David Washington said he went back and checked the apartment
early on the morning of Jan. 15, 2000, about two hours after the three
Buffalo police officers had left. A watch and a ring he had left in a
jacket in the apartment were missing, allegedly stolen by one of the
officers, Washington told prosecutor Paul J. Campana.

But when Campana asked about the $12,000, Washington testified:

"In the bedroom . . . the mattress had been disturbed, but the money was
still there."

A drug dealer acting as an FBI informer had told Parker earlier that
thousands of dollars in cocaine profits would be hidden in the bedroom of
the upper apartment at 929 West. The FBI planted the money, watch and ring
in the apartment as part of a sting operation aimed at rooting out alleged
corruption in the Buffalo Police Narcotics Squad.

The videotapes show Parker, Rodriguez and Ferby all lifting up parts of the
mattress, but none of them closely examining to see what is underneath, or
turning the mattress completely over.

Jurors also saw tapes of the three detectives forcing their way inside the
apartment, searching the apartment with flashlights, and Parker examining a
duffel bag with drug residue that had been left in the bedroom near the
mattress. Before entering, Ferby is seen knocking on the door several
times, and one of the detectives says, "Police," just before they go inside.

On the tape, the detectives are inside the apartment for about 20 minutes.
Shortly before they leave, Parker is seen going back into the bedroom to
check the mattress one last time. Shortly before they exit, one of the
detectives is heard to say, "P.C. to come back." According to FBI Agent
Robert McBride, who testified, "P.C." is common police shorthand for
"probable cause" to obtain a search warrant.

The defense attorneys for Ferby and Rodriguez said the "P.C." remark leads
them to believe that their clients thought that the search of the apartment
was legitimate police work, and that only Parker knew that it was an
unlawful effort to steal drug money.

"There is no doubt in my mind that, for at least some of these detectives,
this was legitimate police work," said Anne E. Adams, who represents Ferby.
"I also think that Darnyl Parker - if you look closely at the tape - saw
the money under the mattress. I think he was going to come back for it later."

Similar comments came from Rodney O. Personius, representing Rodriguez.
"It's absolutely our contention that to David, this was nothing more than a
legitimate police search," Personius said. "And I think the FBI's tapes
will only help our case. It's just very unfortunate that the FBI did not do
an adequate job of making audiotapes, so we could all hear clearly what was
being said during these incidents."

Jurors also saw a Jan. 14, 2000, tape showing Parker and a fourth defendant
in the case, Robert Hill, standing outside the apartment, touching and
examining the door, but deciding not to go inside.

Today, prosecutors were expected to show jurors more videotapes.