RACIAL BIAS CITED IN REVERSAL OF DRUG CONVICTIONS

The drug convictions of two Las Vegas men have been tossed out by a panel
of federal judges who said the testimony of a police detective showed a
racial bias toward Cubans.

Carlos Manuel Cabrera and Iran Poch Mulgado were convicted in U.S. District
Court two years ago at a joint trial on charges of conspiracy to distribute
a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to
distribute and distribution of crack cocaine. Both were sentenced to just
over 13 years in prison.

But a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the
convictions in a published opinion filed Aug. 24. In their ruling, the
appeals court judges said North Las Vegas Police Detective William Brooks
made repeated references to Cubans during his testimony at the trial
presided over by Judge Johnnie Rawlinson.

The judges ordered the case returned to federal court in Las Vegas for a
new trial.

"The fairness and integrity of criminal trials are at stake if we allow
police officers to make generalizations about racial and ethnic groups in
order to obtain convictions," according to the appeals court ruling written
by Judge Dorothy W. Nelson. "People cannot be tried on the basis of their
ethnic backgrounds or national origin."

According to court records, Cabrera sold illegal drugs to a confidential
informant three times. All three transactions were recorded on audio tape.
Mulgado was arrested at his apartment where police allegedly found crack
cocaine and cocaine cooking implements.

But a second trial will offer defense attorneys a new twist in defending
Cabrera and Mulgado.

Brooks, the police detective, is awaiting trial himself after being charged
in May in Clark County District Court with assault and kidnapping. The
charges stem from an incident in February in which Brooks allegedly grabbed
a woman in a parking lot, forced her into a car and threatened her. Brooks
has since resigned from the police department.

Rawlinson, who presided over the first trial, is soon scheduled to join the
9th Circuit Court of Appeals after winning Senate conformation earlier this
year.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Parrella said prosecutors are considering
asking the 9th Circuit to review the opinion, which erased the convictions.

Cabrera's attorney, Scott Bindrup, said the case exposes what he said are
the questionable tactics used by area law enforcement.

"If he hadn't been Cuban, I believe (his case) would have been handled in
the state system," the attorney said. "They could have and should have made
the arrest after the first deal, but they didn't because they wanted to
hammer these Cubans."