LOS ANGELES -- A lawsuit against the police department claims nearly 200 officers were punished for reporting misconduct and illegal activities. The lawsuit, which alleges the officers suffered discrimination, harassment and other forms of retaliation for whistle-blowing, seeks class-action status. A federal judge was scheduled to hold a hearing on the issue today. ``Some of these officers reported beatings of homeless people, the killing of homeless people and the planting of drugs on innocent suspects,'' attorney Bradley Gage of Woodland Hills told a press conference Thursday. [continues 307 words]
* Re "Officials Fear Effect of Drug Law on Stings," Jan. 1: I managed the Yes on 36 campaign. Much of the bellyaching by narcotics officers about Prop. 36 seems misplaced. The purpose of so-called "reverse stings," where cops pose as drug dealers to arrest users, is just as much to clean up neighborhoods as it is to put users in jail. Even if users will now get treatment, not jail, the stings can still help in drug-affected areas. One prosecutor complains that cops don't measure performance "by the number of people they send to rehab." Maybe they should adopt a new bottom line, since the voters have now demanded it. Besides, for many, treatment will prove to be more effective than jail time in keeping individual users from having a reason to go anywhere seeking illegal drugs. [continues 122 words]
Nicknamed 'The Preacher' For His Seriousness As A Youth, He Became A Role Model For LAPD Colleagues. Now, As He Sits In Jail, He And Others Try To Explain What Happened. Whatever else he was, is, or ever will be, for most of the 10 years Rafael Perez was in the Los Angeles Police Department he exemplified the hard-charging ideals the LAPD promotes. He was a good cop--a very good cop, even--who at some point became one of a certain, distinctive other kind of cop. [continues 3600 words]
One Concedes, 'we Were A Bit Confused' LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Some members of the jury that convicted three Los Angeles police officers in the Rampart corruption trial said they believe the judge was right to overturn the convictions. On Friday, Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor reversed the Nov. 15 convictions because she decided jurors discussed the wrong issue and failed to decide a key question -- whether two officers were struck by a vehicle driven by a gang member. Instead of discussing whether the accident occurred, Connor said, the jurors focused on whether any of the injuries rose to the level of "great bodily injury." That issue was never mentioned at trial. [continues 450 words]
Two members of the jury that convicted three Los Angeles police officers of framing gang members in the Rampart corruption scandal were sharply critical Sunday of the decision by Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor to overturn the convictions. "Why call the jury in there in the first place? Why even have us there?" said one, Albert M. Mesa. But two other jurors said they were confused on precisely the point Connor cited Friday when she threw out the first convictions in the worst scandal in LAPD history. "We were a bit confused," said juror Lucy M. Leon. "I know I was." [continues 1113 words]
Only rarely does a judge in a criminal case overturn the verdict reached by jurors in her own courtroom. Still rarer is the judge who admits to committing an error so serious it taints a verdict. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor did both Friday night in an extraordinary ruling that overturned the convictions of three Rampart Division police officers, impressing legal scholars with both her tightly reasoned legal arguments and her unusual candor. At least one scholar, however, questioned whether the judge would ever have issued such an order had the defendants not been police officers. [continues 1317 words]
Rampart: The crime report used an abbreviation that became a deliberation issue. The judge says she erred when she denied a jury request for a rereading. Defense attorney Barry Levin says he will never forget the moment he began to suspect the worst: The jurors deliberating the fates of three Los Angeles police officers had been confused by police lingo. His hair, he said, began to "stand up on the back of my neck" as he rechecked a computer-generated police report that had been given to jurors and reread the tiny line on the top. It said, "AD w/GBI." [continues 360 words]
Excerpts From Ruling Of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor Explanation Of Relevant Section Of Law: Penal Code 1181 provides a number of grounds for consideration, the relevant sections being as follows: 1181.3 Any misconduct by which a fair and due consideration of the case has been prevented; 1181.5 Whether the court has misdirected the jury in a matter of law or has erred in the discussion of any question of law arising during the trial, or any prejudicial misconduct by the prosecution; [continues 811 words]
LAPD: 'This is not over by a long shot,' the chief says, after a judge overruled the jury's verdict in the trial of three officers. Prosecutors will study their options. Reeling from a judge's decision to toss out the convictions of three Los Angeles police officers, police reform advocates angrily complained Saturday, while Police Chief Bernard C. Parks vowed to pursue convictions a second time. "This is not over by a long shot," Parks said in an interview. "It's unfortunate that we've gone through a trial of this length and depth and then to have to go through it again, but we'll be prepared to refile it if necessary." [continues 1527 words]
LOS ANGELES -- A judge's reversal of three officers' convictions has once again thrown this city's massive police corruption probe into turmoil, but officials said yesterday that the Rampart investigation would continue. Prosecutors were "deeply disappointed" by the decision handed down late Friday night by Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor granting a new trial to three Los Angeles police officers charged with framing two gang members, a spokeswoman said. Connor voided the conspiracy, perjury and false report convictions of police Sgts. Edward Ortiz, 44, Brian Liddy, 39, and Officer Michael Buchanan, 30. The judge determined that jurors engaged in misconduct by considering an issue in their deliberations that was never raised during the trial. [continues 975 words]
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 21 (Reuters) -- A judge who presided over the convictions of three Los Angeles police officers in the first trial stemming from the city's Rampart corruption scandal considered overturning the guilty verdicts today over claims of jury misconduct. After listening to arguments by defense lawyers and prosecutors for much of the morning, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor -- who has already declared herself "troubled" by the jury's findings -- said she would issue a ruling as early as Friday. [continues 259 words]
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 23 (AP) -- Three police officers found guilty of corruption in the worst scandal in department history had their convictions tossed out by a judge who said the courts shouldn't remedy the scandal with an unfair verdict. In a ruling obtained late Friday, Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor said jurors disclosed in post-trial statements that they had focused on an issue that was never raised in the trial. Connor overturned the convictions of Los Angeles Police Department Sgts. Edward Ortiz and Brian Liddy, and Officer Michael Buchanan, who were convicted last month of conspiracy and other charges involving framing gang members. [continues 238 words]
The Clinton Justice Department pushed, pulled and prodded Los Angeles into agreeing to a federal consent decree mandating reform in the aftermath of the Police Department's Rampart Division scandal. But President-elect George W. Bush has repeatedly stated his opposition to such decrees, saying that he believes police matters are best handled locally. The coming change in Washington puts a premium on an increased local commitment to police reform. If city leaders keep the pressure on to make sure that the decree is enforced, the people of Los Angeles will be best assured that police scandal cannot recur. [continues 232 words]
OAKLAND -- He was young and inexperienced -- a 23-year-old police officer just three weeks out of training. He went straight to the night shift, where most officers start their careers. There, on patrol in west Oakland, one of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, Officer Keith Batt met "The Riders." Nearly every day from June 13 until July 3, prosecutors say, the rookie watched his fellow officers beat, harass and falsely arrest at least 10 victims. His training officer, Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, warned him not to be a "snitch." His superior officer, Frank Vazquez, told him to forget everything he had learned at the police academy. [continues 916 words]
STANFORD - There is a difference between cop-bashing and constructive criticism. As San Jose police chief, I often criticized the macho military-style police culture of the Los Angeles Police Department while arguing instead for a community style of policing that got tough on crime by forming partnerships with neighborhood groups. Under that style, we were able to break up gangs and arrest many criminals who were ruining the quality of life for innocent people and their children. Although I remain critical of the LAPD culture, my heart goes out to the overwhelming majority of its officers who do their jobs professionally. I wore the uniform of the New York City Police Department for the first half of my 35-year career and remember a number of times the embarrassment and anger I felt when citizens looked at me, wondering if I was as guilty as the criminal cops making headlines. [continues 947 words]
The Real Rampart Scandal Is Citywide The guilty verdicts against Rampart officers last week were immediately hailed as confirmation that there was indeed a scandal at the LAPD. In fact, the jury verdicts showed that there are two Rampart scandals. One centers closely on Rafael Perez, the admitted rogue cop whose sensational confessions launched the scandal in the first place; the other is much broader, and goes beyond the dimensions of the compact inner-city Rampart Division. The two are quite distinct, and the differences are critical to the continuing, and so far fruitless, efforts to reform the city's police force. [continues 1959 words]
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16 -- A panel of experts issued a long-awaited report today on corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department, harshly criticizing what it characterized as the force's dictatorial and detached management and recommending a shift in power from the top officers to the civilian police commission. Although it did not cite them by name, the report focused its harshest conclusions on the chief of police, Bernard C. Parks, and the mayor, Richard J. Riordan, who has been a steadfast supporter of the chief throughout the corruption scandal and in the face of a consent decree that compelled the department to accept federal oversight. [continues 377 words]
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Three Los Angeles police officers were found guilty yesterday of obstructing justice in the first trial arising from the worst police corruption scandal in the city's history. The jury deliberated for three and a half days after the four-week trial. The trial revealed the inner workings of a special anti-gang police unit at the "Rampart Division" near downtown Los Angeles. The unit's members have been accused of shooting, beating or framing hundreds of innocent people, mostly immigrants from Mexico and Central America. [continues 408 words]
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15 — In the first case to go to trial in a major police corruption scandal here, three of four officers charged with framing gang members and planting evidence were convicted today in State Superior Court. The guilty verdicts, on charges that included conspiracy to obstruct justice and filing false police reports, were regarded as a resounding success for the embattled district attorney's office. In fact, the district attorney, Gil Garcetti, was defeated last week in a bid for re-election in large part because of a perception that he had mishandled the cases. [continues 970 words]
Reportedly Denies Killings Occurred LOS ANGELES -- A former lover of the ex-police officer at the center of a massive police corruption investigation has recanted her allegations that he and another former officer killed three people and buried their bodies in Tijuana, law enforcement sources said yesterday. The recantation comes as some news agencies reported that jurors in the first trial stemming from the scandal centered in the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart division reached a partial verdict in the trial of four officers. [continues 781 words]
