Pubdate: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company Contact: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071 Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Author: Rene Sanchez, Washington Post Staff Writer L.A. POLICE MISCONDUCT LIKENED TO RACKETEERING LOS ANGELES, Aug. 30 - Of all the ugly names the police department here has been called since it became mired in a massive corruption scandal last year, none may be worse than the one a federal judge invoked this week. In a ruling that startled city officials, U.S. District Judge William J. Rea said that the pattern of extreme misconduct shown by the LAPD suggests that it could be considered a "criminal enterprise," subject to lawsuits under federal anti-racketeering laws that could inflict a staggering financial toll on Los Angeles. The judge's decision is unprecedented, legal analysts say. After all, the laws were enacted nearly 30 years ago to give law enforcement officials more power to crack down on organized crime gangs involved in extortion, bribery or obstruction of justice not a police force. But this force is facing extraordinary charges. In a scandal still unfolding, officers are being investigated for allegedly orchestrating a widespread, violent conspiracy: shooting unarmed suspects, framing others by planting weapons or drugs on them, falsifying police reports and lying under oath in court. Since the scandal erupted, five officers have been charged with felonies. About 70 more are under investigation. Nearly 100 criminal cases linked to their actions have been thrown out, and a few people who were wrongly convicted have been released from prison. Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at the University of Southern California, said the potential implications of the federal judge's decision are enormous. In essence, he said, the LAPD could be brought to trial "for acting like an illegal mob." "It's a novel theory, and it could tremendously expand the scope of liability the city could be facing," Chemerinsky said. "The racketeering statute is one of the most powerful tools a plaintiff has because it is so broad." Most important, the federal law provides a 10-year statute of limitations on racketeering crimes, which could leave the LAPD vulnerable to more lawsuits concerning alleged misdeeds by officers and give attorneys of alleged victims more time to prepare cases. California law provides just a one-year statute of limitations. The federal law also allows juries to triple damage awards to any plaintiff they decide has been wronged. Until now, city officials have been bracing to pay between $100 million and $200 million to settle lawsuits stemming from the scandal. The financial stakes suddenly could be much higher. Today, city attorneys announced they were preparing an appeal of the judge's ruling. "We believe this order is wrong on the law," said Mike Qualls, a spokesman for city attorney James K. Hahn. The corruption scandal is rooted in the police department's Rampart Division, which covers a blighted immigrant neighborhood near downtown. Most of the officers being investigated have been part of elite squads that the department created to fight street gangs. The controversy began when a former Rampart officer, Rafael Perez, began telling investigators about police misconduct in exchange for leniency on charges he faced for stealing cocaine from a police evidence locker. Perez is now in prison. The federal judge issued his ruling in a lawsuit filed against the city by Louie Guerrero, an alleged victim of police abuse. Guerrero contends that as he walked along a street in the Rampart neighborhood in November 1997, officers choked, kicked and punched him, then arrested him on phony charges. Guerrero's suit includes other plaintiffs who allege the LAPD violated their civil rights in similar ways. City attorneys had sought dismissal of the suit in part because the one-year statute of limitations for suing under state law had passed. But the judge rejected the city's motion. Stephen Yagman, a lawyer representing Guerrero and other plaintiffs, praised the move. He said it could be just the weapon that victims of police abuse have long needed to force reform upon the LAPD, whose image has been tarnished by the infamous Rodney G. King beating of 1991 and conduct by some officers that became known during O.J. Simpson's 1994 trial. "Now we will be able to expose up to 10 years of misconduct," Yagman said, "and to finally clean up a rotten department that the city just won't clean up on its own." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D