Pubdate: Sat, 05 Feb 2000
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2000 Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  400 W. Colfax, Denver, CO 80204
Website: http://www.denver-rmn.com/
Author: Hector Gutierrez

MENA SUPPORTERS SAY JUSTICE DEMANDS MORE PROSECUTIONS

Supporters of slain immigrant Ismael Mena said Friday that a special
prosecutor's decision to file perjury charges against one Denver policeman
falls far short of justice for the victim's family.

But the lawyer for Mena's survivors added that Jefferson County District
Attorney Dave Thomas' decision to charge officer Joseph Bini shows that the
city is culpable for the shooting death of the Mexican national.

"It corroborates that the city has policies that are indifferent to the
value of human life," said Robert M. Maes, the lawyer for Mena's widow and
nine children. "It's really frightening that I could lose my life being in
my house. As far as I'm concerned, Bini is not the only person responsible
here, despite the fact he's the only one being charged."

Maes also was outraged that police and city officials have made statements
that Mena would be alive today had he not been armed with a gun when
confronted by the SWAT team in his bedroom.

"I believe if these officers had not been in that house, Mena would be alive
today. That's what the focus should be on," Maes said. "I don't understand
why they tried to shift blame to this man."

The Justice for Mena Committee says Mena was an innocent man who was working
in the United States to support his wife and seven children who still live
in Jalisco, Mexico. Two grown children have moved to the United States.

"We never felt that this was the process by which justice would be served,
anyway," said LeRoy Lemos, a west side activist for the committee.

A roommate of Mena, who was in another room when the gunfire erupted, said
he last saw Mena in his bedroom. The roommate said Mena was tired and just
wanted to go to bed after working a night shift at his job at the nearby
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and attending a morning court hearing.

Elsie Mecillas, a cousin of Mena, said the officers involved in the shooting
also should pay the consequences.

"I believe they all work together in this," said Mecillas, who was
accompanied by her husband, Ben, outside the Jefferson County district
attorney building. "We're not happy, because they committed an act of murder
and a cover-up."

Mena's supporters have demanded that everyone who had a role in the killing
be prosecuted, including Denver County Judge Raymond Satter, who signed off
on Bini's affidavit.

"It was a sketchy warrant that should not have been signed by the judge,"
Lemos said.

Mexico's consulate office in Denver declined to comment, saying they it has
not received any findings from the special prosecutor.

Consul General Carlos Barros is expected to hold a news conference next
week.

The FBI decided in December to conduct an investigation to determine whether
Mena's civil rights were violated in part because the Mexican government
requested the U.S. Justice Department to intervene.
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