By Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Texas — A dash-cam video that will be used in a court case supposedly shows El Paso police officers planting a baggie of cocaine during a traffic stop.
The controversial patrol-car video was filmed two years ago during the arrest of Ernesto Adrian Burciaga, who pleaded guilty to a cocaine possession charge and now claims that the drugs were planted by police.
The video is expected to be a key issue on Monday during a court hearing for Burciaga, 36, who is seeking that his conviction be overturned.
Burciaga is falsely accusing two officers, the District Attorney’s Office countered in documents. A District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman said she could not comment further because of the coming hearing.
Burciaga’s lawyer, James D. Lucas, said Burciaga pleaded guilty only because he got probation and did not know that he would now face deportation. Burciaga is a legal resident with a wife and children who are U.S. citizens.
“The District Attorney’s Office has clearly ignored what is irrefutable evidence of planting of cocaine on this defendant,” Lucas said about the video.
Lucas ran unsuccessfully against District Attorney Jaime Esparza in the Democratic primary. Burciaga had a different lawyer when he pleaded guilty.
The arrest occurred soon after 2 a.m. on Dec. 24, 2009, in the Lower Valley. According to police documents, officers saw a speeding car chasing a truck. The video, which is silent, shows police chasing both vehicles. The truck kept going when police stopped Burciaga’s car on Old Pueblo Road.
“As both vehicles slowed down, the officers noticed that the driver side window was open. The officers then noticed that the defendant tossed out the window a small item (white in appearance),” the report stated. Police said the item was a bag with less than a half-gram of cocaine.
The video shows two officers, identified as Benito Madrid and Victor Almanza, taking Burciaga into custody.
At the video’s 2:08:45 time mark, Madrid stands near the car and a small white item drops down the side of his leg toward the street. Defense lawyers claim the item is the baggie of cocaine. The officers then continue to inspect the car.
At the 2:15:39 mark, Almanza is seen picking up something from the street and placing it in the driver’s visor in the car.
“You have officers running amok, and the District Attorney’s Office is helping them,” said lawyer Mario Gonzalez, who is helping Lucas in the case. “It’s scary when a prosecutor’s office will protect a bad cop.”
Prosecutors and defense lawyers have opposing views of the video: Was the item on the video papers, the spotlight of a flashlight, or a bag of cocaine?
Madrid and Almanza denied planting evidence.
“The only items I placed in the driver’s side visor were papers that had fallen from the visor,” Almanza said in an affidavit. “I simply placed them back where I found them.”
In documents, prosecutors say Burciaga, even in his documents seeking to overturn his conviction, admitted throwing something out from his car. Burciaga claimed it was smokeless tobacco, a claim that “defies common sense” because tobacco is legal, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also stated that transcripts show Burciaga was told at least three times in court that he would face deportation.
“The police officers in this case did nothing wrong,” Assistant District Attorney Joe Monsisvais stated. “The DVD recording does not reveal anything that the applicant did not already know; namely, that he pled guilty to this offense because he was guilty.”
Lucas said viewers of the video can decide for themselves.
Copyright 2012 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper