Will Detective Frank Flores Be Designated As Expert Witness after Misguiding the Federal Government and a Grand Jury?

Los Angeles, California – May 12th, 2010 -- Judge Manuel Real will preside over a Daubert hearing this Thursday, May 13th to evaluate whether or not LAPD Detective Frank Flores will be an expert witness in the RICO Case under which Alex Sanchez will be tried this October. This hearing will allow Judge Real to explore the criteria that would qualify Detective Flores as an expert on the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13).

To be sure Detective Flores has positioned himself as an authority on MS-13. He has offered opinions to media and authors on the topic from an enforcement-heavy point of view. Most notably he was a lead investigator on the years-long cross-agency investigation targeting MS-13 with a RICO indictment initiated and led by the Department of Justice – which has led to the erroneous arrest of Alex Sanchez nearly one year ago.

His status as a credible expert, investigator and authority has been discredited due to his own actions that have generated at least 3 major concerns:

1.     Poor translation and interpretation. Flores’ faulty translation and misleading interpretation of wiretaps on conversations that included Alex Sanchez have been completely debunked by Father Gregory Boyle, Founder and Executive Director of Homeboy Industries,  who listened to the recordings and provided an alternate well-respected analysis of the calls – which in fact point to Sanchez’ innocence.

2.     Reckless detective work. In addition, crucial calls are attributed to the wrong people – also thanks to Detective Flores – pointing to Sanchez’ innocence.

3.     Wearing too Many Hats. The RICO case alleges a conspiracy to kill Flores. Given that he is a supposed target, how is it possible that he is an objective, credible source in making the case for this indictment as an investigator and the main “expert” and interpreter?

What we know for sure is that Detective Flores is in this for the long haul. His career is at stake and the reputation of those who believed him is also on shaky ground. If Judge Real’s request for additional LAPD experts during Alex’s bail hearing is any indication, it does not look so good for Detective Flores – apparently his word was not enough. We Are Alex organizerOscar Sanchez says, “Whether or not Detective Flores stays on as an expert witness, we hope he is held accountable for his shady detective work – he has attempted to railroad Alex and in the process he’s hurt our community and wasted our time. Tax-payers should be outraged that they have been unknowingly financing such incompetence!”