Posted on 06/16/2003 10:36:36 AM PDT by Dog Gone
After two weeks of testimony, jurors cleared fired Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre of all wrongdoing in what prosecutors called a bungled raid that netted 278 arrests in a Kmart parking lot but no charges that would stick.
Aguirre was tried on five misdemeanor charges of official oppression. Each carried up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
In closing arguments Friday morning, prosecutor Tommy La Fon said the Aug. 18 raid in the 8400 block of Westheimer was originally designed as a legitimate HPD crackdown on illegal and dangerous street racing.
But under Aguirre, he said, it turned into "a cattle-herding operation" with people -- many Kmart and Sonic Drive-In customers -- being arrested en masse for simply being there.
But defense attorney Terry Yates said higher-ups, including Police Chief C.O. Bradford, ducked the heat when arrestees and their parents started complaining.
Yates said jurors should ask themselves whether Aguirre would have been charged if Bradford had stood behind him.
"They (prosecutors) didn't show Capt. Aguirre was guilty and they didn't show those officers did anything wrong," Yates said.
He suggested that several arrestees may have colored their testimony since they have sued the city for damages. "Money makes people do strange things," he said.
Several officers in the police chain of command testified that the officially approved operation included safeguards to protect the innocent. Undercover police would mingle with the crowd and identify lawbreakers to be arrested later in the raid, the witnesses said, and others would be sent home.
Instead, they said, Aguirre decided to make mass arrests for attempted trespassing, the lowest level of misdemeanor. The undercover officers handed out cards identifying a few people as customers of the all-night Kmart and nearby Sonic Drive-In, but everyone else was rounded up.
Yates argued that Aguirre had authority to change the approved plan when no street racing was found, and that his bosses knew about the changes.
The late-night crowds had been gathering at the site for six years, drinking, using drugs, gambling on races, and accelerating dangerously to spin car tires and generate smoke, Yates said.
He noted that "no trespassing" signs were posted and that crowds would typically scatter if a patrol car drove up. "These people knew they shouldn't be there," he said.
Yates called Aguirre a distinguished and effective officer whose entire life is police work.
Many, if not most, of the detainees were arrested but without any evidence of having committed any of these crimes - for example, people who had merely purchased a dinner at the Sonic burger joint.
What in the heck is that? How do you *attempt* to trespass? Either is you is, or is you ain't...
I'm sure there will be a follow-up story where jurors are interviewed.
What the hell kind of bogus legal argument is this?
"Now ask yourselves, would Clinton have been impeached if Starr had cleared him of wrongdoing after all and stood behind him?"
Talk about turning a liability into an asset... Police Chief Bradford failed to "stand behind" Aguirre precisely *because* the Chief felt that Aguirre's actions were indefensible.
On Houston talk radio in the aftermath of this debacle, many Houston police officers called in to give their stories about how out of control Aguirre had been for so many years.
According to at least two I heard, he had friends in high places who protected him after each of his "over the line" actions, and one officer speculated that he had been put in charge of this particular operation specifically so that he would have an opportunity to screw up so publicly that not even his highly placed friends could save him.
The cops there at the scene didn't support it, the police department didn't support it, the City Attorney dropped all charges and expunged the arrest records, and the District Attorney pressed charges against the two captains involved.
Somehow, Aguirre beat the charges. His partner in crime, Captain Wenzel, still faces charges, and we'll have to see how this unexpected development affects his upcoming trial on the same charges.
Whether this saves the city money in damage awards is up to subsequent juries in the civil cases, but this certainly sends the wrong message to both police and the community.
Jurors cleared fired Houston Police Capt. Mark Aguirre of all wrongdoing today in what prosecutors called a bungled raid that netted 278 arrests in a Kmart parking lot but no charges that would stick.
Testimony had dragged on two weeks in the trial of Aguirre, who was charged with five misdemeanor counts of official oppression. Each carried up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
Forewoman Elaine Sayers said the jury, which began deliberating Friday, was unable to find evidence Aguirre tried to arrest anyone illegally.
"It was very hard," she said. "In reading the charges, we had to show intent on his part to make an illegal arrest."
Outside the courhouse, Aguierre was ebullient.
"I just want to thank God. I want to thank the jury. I just want to thank my lawyer," he said, planting a kiss on the cheek of attorney Terry Yates.
"It's a great victory for the Houston Police Department also," Aguirre said. "We went out there with the welfare of the city in mind."
Asked what he thinks of the department's command staff -- which Yates contended had approved the mass arrests and left Aguirre twisting in the wind when an uproar followed -- Aguirre declined to answer.
"I don't want to cast stones," he said. "I'm just very happy. I don't want to talk bad about anybody."
He would not say whether he wants to return to the Houston Police Department. Yates said he filed an appeal with the city Civil Service Commission shortly after Aguirre was fired.
Asked about the next step in his life, Aguirre quipped, "I'm gonna run for mayor. I want to fix potholes."
Aguirre still faces about 40 lawsuits stemming from the raid, Yates said.
Prosecutor Vic Wisner said District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal will have to decide whether to proceed with the trial of Sgt. Ken Wenzel, who faces charges similar to Aguirre's and has resigned from the force.
Although 32 HPD officers and staff members were disciplined as a result of the Aug. 18 raid, only Aguirre and Wenzel were charged.
In view of the acquittal, Wisner said, "You sure have to think about it a little."
Wisner and fellow prosecutor Tommy La Fon told jurors that the raid in the 8400 block of Westheimer originally was designed as a legitimate crackdown on illegal and dangerous street racing.
But under Aguirre, La Fon said, it turned into "a cattle-herding operation" with people -- many of them Kmart and Sonic Drive-In customers -- being arrested en masse for simply being there.
Several officers in the chain of command testified that the operation, as officially approved by Assistant Chief Charles McClelland, included safeguards to protect the innocent. Undercover police would mingle with the crowd and identify lawbreakers to be arrested later in the raid, and others would be sent home.
Instead, prosecutors contended, Aguirre decided to make mass arrests on charges of attempted trespassing, the lowest level of misdemeanor. The undercover officers handed out cards identifying a few people as customers of the all-night Kmart and nearby Sonic Drive-In, but everyone else was rounded up.
The late-night crowds had been gathering at the site for six years, drinking, using drugs, gambling on races and accelerating dangerously to spin car tires and generate smoke, Yates said.
He noted that "no trespassing" signs were posted and that crowds would typically scatter if a patrol car drove up.
"These people knew they shouldn't be there," he said.
Yates called Aguirre a distinguished and effective officer whose entire life is police work.
Hmmmm, I thought the prosecutor was supposed to "show intent", not the jury. The jury just has to believe him.
I wonder if the jury forewoman was deliberately mis-informed, or if she was just a dofus.
Not necessarily. Before a civil action for deprivation of rights under color of law can commence, it must first be demonstrated that other courses of legal action under state statutes or channels have been unsuccessful or blocked.
Now they've opened the door for a whole flood of Section 1983 actions, including the possibility of a RICO suit that could result in the designation of the Houston P.D. as a continuing criminal gang activity as a gang of armed felons.
-archy-/-
Planting bogus "No Trespassing" signs implies intent.
Changing the plan from the written one approved in advance implies intent.
The very fact of indiscriminate arrests implies intent.
The opposite conclusion is absurd. This juror believes that Aguirre didn't intend to make these illegal arrests. It was an accident.
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