Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jul 2005
Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Copyright: 2005 Austin American-Statesman
Contact:  http://www.statesman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/32
Author: Tony Plohetski

MAN KILLED BY POLICE TESTS POSITIVE FOR MARIJUANA

Small Amount Of Drug Found In Second Test On Daniel Rocha, A Reversal
Of Earlier Finding

A man shot and killed by an Austin police officer last month had a
small amount of marijuana in his system, despite an earlier ruling
that he had not used drugs, the Travis County Medical Examiner's
office said Monday.

Daniel Rocha, 18, had used marijuana in the days or hours before he
was shot to death by Officer Julie Schroeder, Chief Medical Examiner
Roberto Bayardo said. However, the amount of drugs in his system, and
the fact that marijuana is a depressant, likely would not have caused
Rocha to become combative as Schroeder tried to arrest him.

"It would make people softer, but not agitated," Bayardo said. "Not
trying to attack or fight."

Schroeder has said she shot Rocha after getting into a struggle with
him near the intersection of Quicksilver Boulevard and Pleasant Valley
Road. She has said that she thought Rocha had taken her Taser stun gun
and was about to use it against her or her sergeant, who had come to
her aid.

According to a two-page report Bayardo released Monday, a test
performed on Rocha's urine shortly after his death produced false
negative results. He said that an Austin police detective called him
July 13 and asked him to perform a more thorough blood test because
marijuana had been found at the scene.

Bobby Taylor, an attorney representing the Rocha family, expressed
anger and questioned whether police had pressured Bayardo to find
drugs in Rocha's system.

"It shows what kind of drastic steps the police are willing to take to
paint a negative picture of Daniel," he said.
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