Racial bias cited in reversal of drug convictions

Greg Tuttle

Monday, Sept. 11, 2000 | 11:43 a.m.

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."