Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Am I the only one who sees something wrong here with using teens as informants? Sue Lawyer Says Police Knew Chad MacDonald Was Scared Of Being Discovered SANTA ANA, Calif., Posted 6:00 p.m. April 15, 1998 -- The worried mother of a 17-year-old drug informant called Brea police after his disappearance and was told that the department wasn't responsible, according to police transcripts cited Wednesday by her attorney. Cindy MacDonald didn't know at the time that her son Chad was already dead, allegedly tortured and strangled by methamphetamine dealers. Two people have been arrested, reported The Associated Press. "A thorough reading of this additional information clearly describes a youngster who was scared to death that he had been discovered as a police informant," lawyer Lloyd Charton said at a news conference. He said the transcripts of Brea police recordings released by a juvenile court judge supported Cindy MacDonald's story that police forced Chad to his death. She maintains they pressed him to snitch on dealers instead of putting him in rehabilitation after his arrest for methamphetamine possession, said AP. "What they did to him was push him further into the drug world, further into the drug culture, put extra pressure on him when he already had a drug problem," Charton told CBS 2 News' Dave Lopez. "Chad would go out and find a drug dealer and then he would come back and say, 'hey I know where they're selling drugs, I just bought some.'" Charton said that according to the transcripts, Brea police bullied and threatened Chad. A secretary for Brea Police Chief William Lentini said the department planned to release a statement later today but Chief Lentini issued no public comment and refused all interviews, said Lopez. "I say there's blood on Lentini's hands," Charton told Lopez. Cindy MacDonald gave written consent to the undercover work. And police maintain the boy wasn't working for them when he was killed because a second drug arrest had already led to his dismissal as an informant, reported Lopez. Chad MacDonald's body was found in Los Angeles March 3 after he and a girlfriend visited a drug house in Norwalk. The girl was beaten, raped and shot. She survived. And according to Lopez, she is recovering and is expected to be a key witness in the trial against the two suspects accused of murdering Chad. Originally arrested Jan. 6, Chad MacDonald made one supervised methamphetamine buy for Brea police and gave other information on drug dealers, according to police records. When he was arrested again Feb. 19, Chad told police word was out that he was a snitch, according to the transcripts. "I've already been harassed, like majorly," he tells officers. "I been hit over the head with a glass. My tires have been slashed." The family had arranged drug rehabilitation outside California, Charton said. Cindy MacDonald alluded to rehab when speaking with police Lt. Billy Hutchinson shortly before Chad's body was found, according to the transcripts. "When I was brought down to that station I should have picked him (up) and removed him from (the) state, just like I wanted to do rather than letting him do this," she says. "Well, let me tell you something, Cindy," Hutchinson says. "He was mixed up with these people before the Brea Police Department got involved. So don't even allude, don't even suggest, that we had something to do with this. Your son was mixed up with this stuff a long time ago, long before we got involved. So I don't even want to hear that, OK?" Cindy MacDonald says she fears her son couldn't deal with being a police agent. "He's a kid, not an adult," she says. "He's a kid, doing adult things, though," Hutchinson replies. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
