Pubdate: Mon, 23 Jul 2001
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Raul Mora, Associated Press Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rampart.htm (L.A. Rampart Scandal)

JUDGE ORDERS RELEASE OF EX-L.A. COP

LOS ANGELES -- 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.

Hours later, Deputy District Attorney William Hodgman sent a letter to the 
state's 2nd District Court of Appeal asking for an immediate delay of the 
order while prosecutors prepared to appeal Perry's ruling. The request was 
denied, District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.

California Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Heimerich confirmed 
Monday evening that Perez had been released from a county jail on Monday 
morning and placed in state custody.

"He will be released on parole pursuant to the judge's order," he said. 
"But when and where, I don't know."

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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