Ask two cops for help fixing a flat tire, get raped?

[Declan McCullagh]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECRM
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2003(202) 514-2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV <http://WWW.USDOJ.GOV>TDD (202) 514-1888

TWO FORMER EL PASO, TEXAS POLICE OFFICERS PLEAD GUILTY TO POLICE MISCONDUCT

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Two former deputies of the El Paso County Sheriff's
office pleaded guilty to police misconduct, the Justice Department
announced today. The plea agreement was filed in federal District
Court in San Antonio, Texas today along with a criminal information.

The defendants, Michael Duran and Peter Calzada, pleaded guilty to one
count of willfully depriving an individual of their civil rights. The
plea agreement states that in January of 1998, the defendants sexually
assaulted a female victim. The victim was stranded on a county road
with a flat tire at the time of the assault.

The plea agreement states the defendants placed her in their patrol
car and threatened her with arrest for driving under the influence of
alcohol if she did not comply with their demands. The plea agreement
further states that the defendants drove the victim to a secluded
area, threatened her by telling her the state would sever custody of
her children and then sexually assaulted her.

"This type of egregious abuse of power undermines the mission of law
enforcement officers to uphold the law and protect our citizens," said
Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights
Division. "Such behavior is illegal and intolerable. We will prosecute
offenders to the fullest extent of the law."

If convicted, the defendants could face a maximum of 10 years in prison.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and was prosecuted by attorneys from the U.S. Attorney's for the
Southern District of Texas and the Criminal Section of the Civil
Rights Division.

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