Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jun 2000
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053
Fax: (213) 237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Forum: http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/

BOARD OF RIGHTS DELAYS ACTION ON LAPD OFFICER

The case of a Los Angeles police officer who was to have learned his
punishment Wednesday for misconduct during an arrest was postponed
until July 24 pending a ruling on a defense motion.

LAPD Officer Humberto Tovar was found guilty Monday on allegations
involving a 1996 drug arrest he made with then-Officer Rafael Perez.
Perez now alleges that their suspect, Toby Semick, was framed.

Tovar was to have learned his punishment Wednesday, but the matter was
postponed pending a ruling on a defense motion.

Tovar's lawyer argued that members of the Board of Rights panel
handling his client's case erred when they interrupted deliberations
to hear from a lieutenant on the department's corruption task force.

That lieutenant, Emmanuel Hernandez, testified that investigators had
been able to corroborate 70% to 80% of Perez's allegations about
police abuse in the LAPD's Rampart Division--a fact the board "weighed
heavily" in finding Tovar guilty on five of seven counts of misconduct.

Tovar's lawyer, Richard Macias, asked the board to seek the legal
advice of the Los Angeles city attorney's office to determine whether
Hernandez should have been allowed to testify after deliberation had
begun.

The board agreed to do so and postponed the proceeding until July
24.

Also on Wednesday, a judge dismissed another criminal conviction
tainted by alleged police corruption. Superior Court Judge Larry
Fidler, acting on a request from prosecutors, threw out the case
against Oscar Giovanni Ochoa, 27, who was allegedly framed by Perez
and another officer.

Ochoa pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale and was
sentenced in September 1997 to three years in state prison.
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