Source: Orange County Register (CA) Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Pubdate: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 Author: Stuart Pfeifer and Tony Saavedra-OCR LAWYER: TEEN WAS TRYING FOR LAST DEAL Confidentiality of juvenile proceedings prohibits comment from law enforcement officials. A prosecutor allegedly told Chad Allen MacDonald at a court hearing last month that he would dismiss narcotics possession charges if the youth completed another drug buy as a Brea police informant, a family lawyer said Friday. The offer, which the lawyer said is outlined in police reports released to MacDonald's family,is the first indication the Orange County District Attorney's Office approved of the youth's informant work before he was slain this month. Attorney Lloyd Charton said he wouldn't publicly release the police file because the reports could identify people who have cooperated with police and others in the drug business. "These documents have things in it that could get people hurt and I'm not doing it," the attorney said. Assistant District Attorney John Conley said he could not comment on his office's involvement because of state laws that require juvenile court proceedings to remain confidential. "The judge has put us in a situation where one side can talk and the other can't and I'm very frustrated," Conley said. "Hopefully, early next week we'll see if the judge will allow us to talk as well. Charton's news conference was the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter debate between MacDonald's family and Brea police on whether the 17-year-old's work as an informant led to his death. Police deny MacDonald was working for them on the day he was killed. Charton said that the youth agreed to work for police after he was arrested Jan. 6 while driving in Yorba Linda with half an ounce of methamphetamine. MacDonald disappeared March 1 after driving with his girlfriend to a reputed drug house in Norwalk. The youth's tortured and strangled body was found March 3 in a south Las Angeles alley. Charton said the report indicated the accused Hispanic killers made racial slurs while beating MacDonald and calling him "a (expletive) narc." "Yeah, they said because he was a 'white guy,' but that's a red herring. Chad was killed because he was a snitch," Charton said. Brea police officials said Charton failed to release information that showed other potential motives for MacDonald's death. Brea police had petitioned presiding Juvenile Court Judge Ronald Owen for permission to publicly release the police investigative file. But Owen, instead, gave the documents to MacDonald's mother, as well as permission to release what she wished. Brea Police Chief William Lentini said the decision left him unable to respond to Charton's allegations. The judge "said he thought the mother had a surviving interest in the information about Chad." Lentini said. "Clearly (Charton) will pick out the information that is beneficial to his case." Charton has not disputed that MacDonald was a drug user and methamphetamine dealer in Yorba Linda. He has criticized police for not putting the teen into the juvenile system, where he likely would been sentenced to a six-month rehabilitation program instead of re-introducing him to the drug world. On Feb. 19, when MacDonald appeared in court, Charton said the police report shows that "Chad was told by the DA if you make another buy for the detectives I will dump al the charges." That night, at about 7:25 p.m., Brea police arrested him a second time for possession of two grams of methamphetamine. MacDonald told the officers that he was working as an informant for a Brea detective. The officers released MacDonald to his mother and said the detective would contact him, Charton said. "Chad never heard from that officer again. There were no charges. There was nothing ever done," Charton said.