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Newsbrief:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cop
Story
5/2/03
Back to Texas. As Texas
bluesman Johnny Winter once wrote, "When you're going to Dallas, better
take your razor and your gun, 'cause there's so much shit in Dallas you're
bound to step in some." The Dallas Police Department certainly stepped in
when it made national headlines with its sheetrock scandal, wherein paid
confidential informers working for gung-ho Dallas cops managing to set-up
dozens of innocent people, most of them Mexicans or Mexican-Americans, and
the Texas legal system complacently sent them to prison. The drugs in
those cases, which police claimed field tested positive as cocaine or
methamphetamine, turned out to be sheetrock, or gypsum.
Prosecutors have already
dismissed charges against more than 80 people arrested by officers Mark
Delapaz and Eddie Herrera. Other victims have been deported or sentenced
to prison after pleading guilty on the advice of public defenders. Three
informants working for the pair have pleaded guilty to conspiring to
violate the civil rights of those arrested.
Now, a Dallas grand jury has
indicted Delapaz on five counts of deprivation of rights under color of
law and one count of making false statements to federal officials. He
faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. He remains free on bail and is on
paid leave from the Dallas Police Department.
-- END --
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Issue #285, 5/2/03
Editorial: Much to Emulate from Abroad | Senator Nolin Comes to Washington | Cannabis Canada: Decrim on the Way, Says Prime Minister -- The People are Ready, Says Poll | Vancouver: Unsanctioned Safe Injection Site Opens in Midst of Police Crackdown on Downtown Eastside Hard Drug Scene | Peruvian Coca Growers Move from Joy to Anger as Meeting with President Yields FALSE Accord | Sentencing Reform through Budget Crisis: Washington State Passes Early Release Bill | Drug Czar Escapes Prosecution for Election Law Violations in Nevada | Newsbrief: Scottish Police Call for Drug Law Reform | Newsbrief: Oregon House Passes Bill to Restrict Medical Marijuana, Action Pending in Senate | Newsbrief: Friend of Drug Reform Upsets Veteran in Detroit City Council Race | Newsbrief: Utah Marijuana Case against Dennis Peron Crumbles | Newsbrief: Missouri Court Challenges Meth Arrest for Cold Pills | Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cop Story | Web Scan: CSDP, Policy Review, High Point Enterprise | Job Opportunity: Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, DC | Fellowship Opportunity: Ira Glasser Racial Justice Fellowship Program, American Civil Liberties Union | The Reformer's Calendar
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