MISREAD NOTES LAND STUDENT IN JAIL

Police Mistake EngineeringClass Jottings For Evidence Of Drug Sales

By Shawna Mccoy, Contra Costa Times

MARTINEZ University of CaliforniaBerkeley student Carlos Gonzalez never
dreamed his meticulous engineering notes on a watertreatment plant would
get him into trouble.

But that's what happened in November when police mistook the notes for drug
measurements and threw him in jail.

The charges against Gonzalez have been dropped, but his life hasn't
returned to normal. And he worries it never will.

His semester at school has been lost including $3,000 in tuition and
his graduation delayed. He also worries that his stint in jail will leave a
permanent mark on his record and reputation.

``There's supposed to be an assumption of innocence, but that presumption
has been turned on its head,'' said public defender Thomas Fleming,
Gonzalez's attorney. Now, when asked about the arrest, ``he will have to
explain that he was innocent. How many people do you think will believe him?''

Gonzalez's problems began Nov. 5, when he ran into Jose Renteria, a former
coworker, who needed a ride to a mall in Concord.

Gonzalez says he didn't know that Renteria was a smalltime drug dealer on
his way to the mall to sell methamphetamine. Renteria's customer that day
was an undercover officer with the Walnut Creek Police Department.

Gonzalez, a Pleasant Hill resident, said he didn't know what was going on
when the police surrounded his car and pointed a gun at him. He thought he
was being mugged. They told him it was a drug bust. He told them he was
innocent.

To prove it, he let them search his car. That's where they found the notes,
part of a project on the design of the Benicia Wastewater Treatment Plant,
written in the back of a daily planner.

The notes ``J, R, L'' in a vertical column with the numbers 4.0, 6x3.5,
21, 1.8, 1.8, 26.8 directly across represent chemicals used to treat
water, Gonzalez said.

According to the police report, ``he had figures written on his note pad
that appear to be added amounts almost equaling the weight of drugs.''

The notes were the only hard evidence against him in a drug charge that
landed him 13 days in jail.

``I told the police to use common sense,'' said Gonzalez, 33. ``I'm about
to finish school and start making $40,000 a year. Do you think I would be a
drug dealer?''

The Walnut Creek police didn't believe him. Neither did the district
attorney's office, which two days later charged him with possession of
drugs with the intent to sell.

Finally, after several court appearances at which Fleming said he pleaded
with prosecutors to recognize Gonzalez's innocence, the case was dismissed,
two weeks after he was released from jail and almost a month after he was
arrested.

It is not known why the district attorney's office continued to press the
case against Gonzalez. Officials there did not return calls Friday.

But to Fleming, Gonzalez's innocence should have been obvious.

``When I looked at those notes, I thought, `Oh, my God, how could anybody
say that these are about drug dealing?' '' Fleming said. ``It's almost
laughable except for the fact that Carlos Gonzalez's life was ruined.''

Meanwhile, a search of Renteria's home found more drugs, a scale and drug
paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty to the charges and is serving time,
Fleming said.

Lt. Ron Frazier of the Walnut Creek police would not discuss the case but
said that in general, driving someone to a drug deal can be probable cause
for arrest.

But according to Fleming, what happened was a miscarriage of justice.

``When the cops encounter someone, they very quickly put you in two
categories: good citizen and crook,'' Fleming said. ``Everything they do
after that depends on those two categories. They obviously put Carlos into
the crook category.''

While in jail, Gonzalez, a native of Mexico, worried he would be deported.

``I don't have the money to go back to Mexico and start on my own again.''

But his experience hasn't soured him on the American justice system.

``Some people just have poor judgment,'' he said.