Pubdate: Tue, 24 Jul 2001
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2001 The Charlotte Observer
Contact:  http://www.charlotte.com/observer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rampart.htm (L.A. Rampart Scandal)
Author: Raul Mora (Associated Press)

JUDGE ORDERS RELEASE OF DISGRACED EX-OFFICER AT CENTER OF LAPD CORRUPTION PROBE

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The disgraced former officer who broke open one of the 
biggest police corruption scandals in Los Angeles history was ordered 
released from prison Monday after nearly three years behind bars for 
stealing cocaine from an evidence room.

Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry resolved a dispute over how much 
credit Officer Rafael Perez, 33, should get for good behavior in prison and 
concluded that he had served enough of a five-year sentence.

The judge ordered Perez's release within 24 hours.

"Mr. Perez did cooperate, in the court's view. He did live up to his end of 
the bargain," Perry said.

Prosecutor William Hodgman asked for two weeks to appeal, but Perry said 
no. Hours after the judge's order, Hodgman asked an appeals court to delay 
Perez's release while prosecutors appealed. Hodgman said Perry did not have 
the authority to release Perez.

Perez was arrested in August 1998 for stealing $1 million worth of cocaine. 
He agreed in 1999 to plead guilty and cooperate with investigators in 
exchange for leniency. He was sentenced to five years in prison but given 
credit for the time he had spent in jail since his arrest.

Perez ignited a scandal after he alleged wrongdoing in the department, 
including assaults and frame-ups by the anti-gang unit in which he worked 
in the city's tough Rampart area.

More than 100 convictions have been set aside because of his allegations. 
The city has also has paid millions to settle dozens of lawsuits.

Three officers were found guilty in a frame-up case, but the convictions 
were overturned on the grounds that the jury made mistakes about evidence.

Perez had been serving his sentence at a county lockup instead of state 
prison so he could help investigators in the probe. But the county gives 
credit at the rate of only one day for every two days in custody. The state 
system trims one day off a sentence for each day served.

When it came time to consider his release under terms of his plea bargain, 
the district attorney's office, the Sheriff's Department and the state 
Corrections Department said Perez had not earned enough credits for release 
because he never entered the state system.

The judge said the agencies' position was unfair to Perez, who counted on 
being released early for cooperating.
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