Federal officials instructed three police officers not to testify Tuesday at a court hearing for Brian Kenneth Hicks, the owner of the sport utility vehicle from which the shot that killed Denver Bronco Darrent Williams was fired.
The officers are assigned to the Metro Gang Task Force, and each had been deputized as a special officer of the FBI.
U.S. Attorney Troy Eid sent letters to Mike Prince and Gary Valko, both Aurora officers, and Detective Rufino Trujillo, a Denver police detective. In the letters, Eid told them they were not authorized to testify in the Hicks case “regarding certain information you acquired while in your capacity” as special FBI officers.
Walter Gerash, the veteran attorney who is defending Hicks on drug-possession charges, said he wanted the officers’ testimony in an attempt to show that police illegally stopped Hicks on Nov. 9.
Gerash believes that the task force may have used an illegal wiretap or listening post to conduct surveillance on purported gang activities in the area of 42nd Avenue and Josephine Street.
Prosecutors claim that Hicks tossed a bag containing 8.8 pounds of cocaine out of a car just before he was pulled over.
Gerash said he was astounded by Eid’s letter. “I have never seen it, I have never seen it (such a letter from a U.S. attorney),” he said.
But Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for Eid’s office, said that U.S. attorneys are authorized under Justice Department regulations to bar testimony of federal officials in matters where the U.S. is not a party. He said the policy is not new.
Gerash said that the officers probably would have testified that they saw Hicks go into an address with a bag and return to the car five minutes later with the same bag.
He said that Trujillo radioed two other officers that the men in the car were known gang members, were armed and dangerous, and might have cocaine on them and should be stopped.
Gerash said he wanted to ask the officers whether they had probable cause to stake out the address, why they believed those in the car were gang members and had drugs, and where they got that information.
Denver County Judge Aleene Ortiz-White refused to order the officers’ appearance.
Following the preliminary hearing, Ortiz-White ordered Hicks to stand trial on the drug possession charges. He also faces trial on two counts of attempted murder in an unrelated case.
Hicks was in jail at the time of Williams’ Jan. 1 slaying. Police have not said who they believe was using Hicks’ car at the time of the killing.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
