Pubdate: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Author: Steve Brewer GRAND JURY PROBE MAY TAKE LONGER THAN EXPECTED The grand jury investigation into Pedro Oregon Navarro's death at the hands of Houston police might take longer than the two or three weeks prosecutors initially estimated. By the end of today, grand jurors will have heard three days of testimony and much more information must be presented. The panel meets only on Mondays and Wednesdays and will not meet Monday because it's Labor Day, said Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr. There's also a scheduling conflict on one other day with panel members who want to hear all the testimony. Prosecutors are also hoping to track down more witnesses in the case, Holmes said. "There's no reason to hurry just to get through with it," Holmes said. "You don't want to rush them. They're not going to do anything until they have heard from every witness. These people have some pieces to a puzzle and they need to see all the pieces." On Monday, grand jurors heard from members of Oregon's family who were in the apartment the night he died. The panel is expected to hear more from them today and it's unlikely the officers involved in the shooting will testify until the end of the inquiry. Oregon, 22, died July 12 in a hail of bullets fired by six police officers who were following a tip from an informant that drugs were being sold in his home. A shot fired by one officer hit another officer in his bullet-resistant vest and knocked him to the floor, police said. The officers, who are now on paid suspensions, apparently thought the shot had been fired by Oregon and they opened fire. They fired about 30 rounds, and 12 of them hit Oregon. Nine struck him in the back, one in the back of the head, one in back of the shoulder and one in the back of the hand. No drugs were found in the apartment and Oregon had not fired a gun at police, though one was found in the apartment. Oregon, who had no criminal record, also had no traces of drugs or alcohol in his system. - --- Checked-by: Patrick Henry