[Libreoffice] Help here, I think I'm blinded

Guys I have something that I see a lot and do not know way someone will 
use it:

//code
static WinSalMenuItem* ImplGetSalMenuItem( HMENU hMenu, UINT nPos, BOOL 
bByPosition=TRUE )
{
    DWORD err=0;

    MENUITEMINFOW mi;
    memset(&mi, 0, sizeof(mi));
    mi.cbSize = sizeof( mi );
    mi.fMask = MIIM_DATA;
    if( !GetMenuItemInfoW( hMenu, nPos, bByPosition, &mi) )
        err = GetLastError();

    return (WinSalMenuItem *) mi.dwItemData;
}
//end

'err' saves some values but who uses it? I see a lot of it on the code, 
local variables with attribution, and no one inside the function uses, 
and no one sends the variable for others externally.

revol_