Pubdate: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Copyright: 2001 The Sacramento Bee Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption) FORMER LAPD OFFICER RAFAEL PEREZ MAY BE RELEASED FROM JAIL LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Disgraced former Rampart police officer Rafael Perez could be a free man as early as Thursday, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said. A hearing is planned before Superior Court Judge Robert Perry to determine when Perez should be released from jail. "He may be released tomorrow," spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said Wednesday. Perez's attorney Winston Kevin McKesson said that he plans to ask for the immediate release of his client. "It is our position that continued incarceration is a violation of his civil rights," he said. Perez ignited the Los Angeles police scandal in 1999 when he told investigators he and other officers beat, framed and robbed people in rough neighborhoods west of downtown. He began talking to detectives in exchange for a more lenient sentence after he pleaded guilty to stealing $1 million worth of cocaine from an evidence room. In February 2000, he was given a five-year sentence for the theft. He was granted more than two years of credit for time served before his sentencing. Last month, Perry refused to decide the issue of how much more time Perez should spend behind bars. He also refused to order the state Department of Corrections to give Perez more credit for time served than it normally would, saying he did not have that authority. The "appropriate avenue for relief" is an administrative hearing by the department, the judge had said. However, McKesson said Perry now has authority because they have exhausted all other alternatives. "The Department of Corrections has said that there is nothing else they can do. Our only regress is with the courts," McKesson said. But nobody knows when, exactly, Perez should be released. The confusion stems from the fact that Perez was sentenced to state prison, where he was eligible to receive a "day-for-day" credit. But he was placed in local custody so that he could help in the ongoing police corruption probe. County jail credit is one day for every two days served. The issue of credit was not mentioned in a plea bargain that granted Perez immunity from local prosecution. - --- MAP posted-by: GD