Most of my readers think he'll get Probation. They say, "Cops can get away with anything." They think, "He'll probably keep his job." I'm not as sure that they are right as I used to be.Fake-drug scandal nets 2nd ex-officer
Dallas: He receives two years' probation for participation
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/051907dnmetjury.80bf8796.html08:31 PM CDT on Friday, May 18, 2007
The second Dallas police officer tried for wrongdoing in the Dallas Police Department's fake-drug scandal was found guilty Friday night by a jury. State District Judge Susan Hawk then sentenced Jeffrey Haywood to two years' probation.
More than two-dozen people were falsely arrested when paid Dallas police informants planted what was said to be drugs. Many of those arrested, most of whom were Hispanic immigrants, went to jail.
Another former officer, Mark Delapaz, was also convicted in connection with the scandal. Two other officers' cases are pending.
Prosecutors David Alex and Heath Harris argued that Mr. Haywood lied in a police report when he said he field-tested a substance believed to be 7 kilograms of cocaine when it was seized in May 2001. The substance turned out to be pool chalk mixed with a minute amount of cocaine.
In closing arguments Friday before a packed courtroom, Mr. Alex told jurors they must find Mr. Haywood guilty to avoid becoming part of the problem.
Mr. Alex said a not guilty verdict would mean "you're starting on that road to helping him cover it up."
Jurors debated for a little over two hours before reaching a decision. They had been sequestered since Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Mr. Haywood should have been a "gatekeeper" and not looked the other way. Prosecutors told Judge Hawk they were not asking her to send Mr. Haywood to prison but that they did want him to spend four days in jail – the same time as the man arrested in the case.
"He lied and he dishonored himself, and he dishonored those people over there," Mr. Alex said, pointing at Dallas officers in the courtroom.
Defense attorneys Kirk Lechtenberger and George Milner III told jurors that Mr. Haywood tested the substance. They said the substance could have been tested by unwrapping the package or by testing powder on the outside. They argued that even a small amount of cocaine would show a positive result.
Mr. Lechtenberger called the state's case a mixture of "supposition, guesswork, innuendo and smear campaign."
An investigation blamed poor supervision within the police department for the fake-drug scandal. Numerous policy changes have been made since that investigation.
Mr. Haywood was found guilty of tampering with evidence, which is punishable by two to 10 years in prison. The judge sentenced him to five years in prison but probated that sentence to two years.
He had left the Dallas Police Department to become an air marshal when he was indicted.
According to testimony, investigators tried to get Mr. Haywood to talk about wrongdoing by Mr. Delapaz so he could possibly avoid indictment. Mr. Delapaz – not Mr. Haywood – was the focus of the initial investigation.
Mr. Delapaz was convicted in 2005 of lying to a judge while obtaining a search warrant in the scandal. He was also convicted of stealing money while working as a narcotics officer.
Prosecutors charged that Mr. Delapaz was motivated to steal because he had $60,000 in credit-card debt and presented evidence that he forged paperwork and skimmed some of the more than $400,000 in police money that passed through his hands in 2001.
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