Trial for officers in Kmart raid starts June 2

Houston Chronicle ^ | Feb. 21, 2003, 11:46AM | LISA TEACHEY

[No Truce With Kings]

Trial for officers in Kmart raid starts June 2

By LISA TEACHEY

Coypright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Two former Houston police officers who were at the helm of a botched raid at a westside parking lot will go to trial June 2 to answer charges of official oppression.

Capt. Mark Aguirre and Sgt. Ken Wenzel, who appeared in court today for the trial setting, each face five charges of official oppression for ordering the arrests of more than 300 people, including many teenagers, at a Kmart parking lot in the 8400 block of Westheimer on Aug. 18.

The scene of hundreds of people being handcuffed, without warning, and lined up in the parking lot was filmed by television news crews and led to the largest internal affairs investigation in Houston Police Department history.

The in-house investigation ended with Aguirre being fired, Wenzel, who is also a lawyer, retiring and 30 other officers being disciplined.

After a brief appearance in state District Judge Carol G. Davies' court today, defense lawyers Terry Yates and Joe Bailey said they expect the trial could last two to four weeks. The men are expected to be tried together.

"We expect they'll be acquitted," Yates said. "And once the truth comes out it will be shown that they are innocent and nothing was done illegally out there."

Prosecutors Vic Wisner and Tommy LaFon did not comment. Assistant district attorneys usually do not comment on pending cases.

The Kmart raid was originally planned weeks ahead to nab drag racers. But when none was found that night officers arrested nearly 300 people on charges of trespassing and curfew violations.

Public outcry led to all the charges being dismissed and being expunged at city expense. Several civil lawsuits have been filed against the city and police department.

[No Truce With Kings]

Authority demands responsibility.

[No Truce With Kings]

Ping.

Feel free to ping others interested -- except those still in cloud-koo-koo-land.

[TroutStalker]

The testimony of other cops involved in the mass arrests should be very interesting. From what I've read about the incident, these guys are toast. One already quit the department and is going to be a lawyer. Sounds like a good career choice for a crooked cop.

[Fixit]

Worse than that he was already a lawyer and a cop.

[TroutStalker]

Planning his exit. Just didn't think it would be as a jailhouse lawyer.

[Henrietta]

ping

[Orangedog]

I hope they bankrupt the department and everyone in charge of that nonsense.

[Grut]

Authority demands responsibility.

Sadly, Authority demands immunity and mostly gets it.

[Dog Gone]

Oh, pick me for the jury, pick me!

[No Truce With Kings]

"Oh, pick me for the jury, pick me!"

I thought you were a lawyer. Lawyers don't pick other lawyers for jury duty. (They say that it is because a lawyer cannot be impartial, but it is really professional courtesy.)

[Dog Gone]

I never volunteer that I'm a lawyer, and they never seem to ask. I've been on several juries.

But Aguirre has nothing to fear from me. I don't live in this court's jurisdiction, so I can't get on the jury and argue during deliberations for the death sentence, darn it.