DALLAS, April 16 (UPI) -- A Dallas police detective and a former officer are facing charges of tampering with physical evidence in a fake drug scandal.
Senior Cpl. Mark Delapaz and former narcotics officer Jeff Haywood were charged in indictments returned Thursday by a county grand jury, The Dallas Morning News reported. Delapaz was acquitted last year on federal charges filed in the case.
The state charges were the first filed by a special prosecutor investigating the bogus arrests of mostly Hispanic immigrants three years ago. A group of corrupt informants planted billiards chalk on the victims to fake cocaine or methamphetamine.
The Dallas County district attorney was forced later to dismiss 80 drug cases after some of the victims had spent months behind bars. Several civil rights lawsuits have also been filed in connection with the scandal.
Paul Coggins, Delapaz's attorney, said he was surprised his client was in court again to re-address issues a federal jury decided but he was confident Delapaz would be acquitted. Haywood had no immediate comment.
