Prosecutor Seeking to Shield Drug Informant : Would Rather Drop Case Than Identify Person Who Led Agents to Seizure of Cocaine and Cash

The attorney prosecuting 10 South Americans arrested in California’s largest cocaine seizure said he would rather drop the case than hand over information the defense requested Thursday about a confidential informant who led agents to the suspects.

James M. Brooks, Orange County assistant district attorney, said after a preliminary hearing in North Municipal Court that revealing the information could endanger the informant’s life.

“We will not give up a human life in exchange for 10 defendants,” Brooks said. “We have their (cocaine) and their money, and we will not sacrifice a human being.”

A squad of attorneys defending the 10 suspects asked Judge Richard L. Weatherspoon on Thursday to let them see documents concerning the informant.

Street Value of $500 Million

The attorneys contended that they cannot determine the “reliability” of the informant without the documents. The informant led Los Angeles police to the April 4 seizure at residences in Placentia, Anaheim and Fullerton of $730,000 in cash and 1,784 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $500 million.

According to court documents, the informant has been instrumental in helping drug agents break other major cocaine-smuggling rings.

Robert Gosnell, the Los Angeles police detective who led the raids, met privately Thursday with Weatherspoon to review the documents.

Weatherspoon said he needed to “review some case law” and ordered Gosnell to meet with him again today before continuing the preliminary hearing.

Michael McDonnell, one of the defense attorneys, told Weatherspoon that the documents also could reveal what the informant received in exchange for his tips.

The informant “obviously was given something in return for his cooperation,” McDonnell said.

Stephan A. DeSales, another attorney, said the defense does not necessarily want the informant’s name but does want information regarding the person’s background and connections with drug investigators.

“None of us care who he is. We want to know what he is,” he said.

DeSales also said the informant had been “actively participating” in the cocaine-smuggling ring dismantled by the raids, making the background information especially vital to the defense.