Pubdate: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2003 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Contact: http://www.newscoast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/398 Author: Catherine Wilson, Associated Press Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) MIAMI POLICE CORRUPTION TRIAL HEADED TO JURY Federal prosecutors charge bad cops planted guns on the unarmed victims of four police shootings, and their police buddies covered it up. The officers' defenders say it never happened and it wasn't proven during a 10-week trial. Jurors will be asked this week to decide the corruption case involving 11 Miami officers who face possible 10-year prison sentences and loss of their careers. None of the defendants testified, but two officers on their special teams broke the police "code of silence." Back at the station, the Miami Police Department has a new chief and new policies after years of rubber-stamping police shootings as justified in spite of brewing community outrage. Police shootings, beatings or acquittals in Miami triggered riots or smaller street clashes six times from 1980 to 1995. The indictment covers shootings from 1995 to 1997 and is the city's worst police scandal since the 1980s when the so-called "Miami River Cops" stole cocaine from drug traffickers and sold the drug themselves. More than 100 officers were arrested, fired or disciplined. "From a purely community viewpoint, the best thing would be to have this over," said attorney Joe Serota, who helped nominate a new civilian police review board. "It has I think raised real concerns about the credibility of the police and the ability of the police to internally root out corrupt cops." The judge has asked attorneys not to discuss the case, and they have not made any comments since the trial began. The star prosecution witnesses were two former insiders, now-retired officers who pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge against the others. The defense attacked them as witnesses more interested in staying out of jail and keeping their pensions than telling the truth. If jurors reject their testimony, the defense believes the government's case will fall apart. The strongest turncoat, John Mervolion, is a 300-pound hulk who other officers consider a disruptive, dishonest snitch. The other, William Hames, is an alcoholic who quit drinking after holding a gun on a bus driver in a drunken blackout. During the trial, Mervolion testified that he saw Officer Jesse Aguero drop a handgun after the shooting of a homeless man and held a gun for Aguero that turned up after a purse-snatching. Mervolion and Hames were among the officers who killed two fleeing tourist robbers. Hames said he concocted a story and shared it with four defendants at a barbecue lunch the next day to cover the "stupid" planting of guns after what he considered the legally justifiable shooting of fleeing felons. Hames also testified that Aguero later gave him a civilian gun to clean down to the smallest parts. The fourth shooting rests on circumstantial evidence and the conflicting testimony of the survivor. Drug suspect Richard Brown, 72, died in a 123-shot volley as his 14-year-old great-granddaughter cowered a few feet away on the bathroom floor of their apartment. The four defendants who fired didn't realize she was there until she stumbled through the gun smoke. In all, three men died, the homeless man was wounded, and the purse-snatcher escaped injury when Aguero fired at him three times. Investigators traced two of the five handguns that were allegedly planted to the arrests of small-time drug dealers by the defendants. The victims' fingerprints were not on any of the guns. A partial print from Aguero was on the gun found after the shooting of the homeless man, Daniel Hoban. Art Beguiristain, the only officer accused in all four shootings, once said he wanted "kick-ass cops" to respond to the shooting of Hoban, a schizophrenic alcoholic. The phrase reinforces the idea that the trial is a world away from the humdrum existence of ticket-writing patrol officers. The defendants, all Hispanic officers in a Hispanic majority city, were assigned to elite undercover teams targeting robbers or street drugs or were part of the high-powered SWAT team. The trial has fed more than two decades of police distrust, a chronic problem that will take more than the trial and a new police chief to correct, said the Rev. Willie Sims, a staff member on Miami-Dade County's community relations board. "You can believe it's going to take more than a chief to change that," he said. "It's going to take actions by the entire department." Jury selection began the same day former Philadelphia police chief John Timoney became chief in Miami. He said it was "critically important" to support officers doing the right thing but stressed "there must be no safe harbor" for wrongdoers. Police spokesman Angel Calzadilla said the chief would not comment on the trial until it's over and then will "address it fully and openly." At that point, the department will resume its internal investigation of the 10 defendants on paid suspension. Aguero has been fired. "It is possible to be found innocent by a court of law and still have rough going keeping your job," said Lt. Bill Schwartz, a department spokesman. "The investigative board would send findings to the chief. The chief is always the last word." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake