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.
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