LOS ANGELES (AP) A judge reluctantly refused to release disgraced former police officer Rafael Perez from custody Thursday after authorities said he had not met the requirements of serving sufficient time in state prison under a plea agreement. Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said he felt the position taken by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and Sheriff's Department was unfair to Perez, who counted on being released early for cooperating as an informant in a police scandal. [continues 529 words]
Opening Statements: Defense Calls Accuser Perez A `Street Thug In A Police Uniform.' LOS ANGELES -- The first trial stemming from the largest police corruption scandal in city history opened Wednesday with attorneys for four accused officers calling a former co-worker -- the prosecution's key witness -- an evil, lying thug. The statements were unusual because they came on the first day of jury selection. Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor offered lawyers the chance to give statements to inform the jury pool about what might lie ahead in a trial that is expected to last three to four weeks. [continues 366 words]
Defense Says Accuser's Credibility Is On Trial In Tainted Cases LOS ANGELES -- The police department scandal that has tormented Los Angeles for a year bursts into the open this week with the trial of four police officers whose freedom hinges on the credibility of their accuser, disgraced officer Rafael Perez. Perez, who bought leniency for himself by informing on others, has opened a floodgate on cases that had to be dismissed because he said officers had lied, planted evidence, shot suspects, committed perjury and filed false reports. [continues 413 words]
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actor Robert Downey Jr. was released from prison on $5,000 bail Wednesday after an appeals court ruled he had served enough time to fulfill his three-year sentence on drug charges. A panel of the California Second District Court of Appeal said Downey was entitled to receive credit for time he served in drug rehabilitation facilities. "When those additional time credits are added in, it is obvious appellant has more than served his sentence," the court's opinion said. [continues 280 words]
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A policeman pleaded innocent Monday to attempted murder and four other officers were arraigned on conspiracy charges stemming from a probe of alleged corruption in an anti-gang unit at the Police Department's Rampart station. Officer Nino Durden, 32, stood with his head down and hands cuffed in a county jail jumpsuit before Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler as his lawyer entered the plea on his behalf in the 1996 shooting of Javier Ovando, 23, who is paralyzed. [continues 562 words]
LOS ANGELES - In the most serious case to arise so far in a widening police scandal, an officer was arrested yesterday and charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a gang member left paralyzed. Officer Nino Durden, whose former partner is at the center of the corruption probe, was also charged with robbing a suspected drug dealer at gunpoint, filing false police reports and committing perjury. "I think this is probably the most serious case that we can prove at this time," said District Attorney Gil Garcetti, who earlier charged four other officers with crimes stemming from the investigation of a gang unit at the Police Department's Rampart station. [continues 451 words]
LOS ANGELES - With tears in his eyes, the disgraced police officer who set off the worst police corruption scandal in Los Angeles history apologized for unforgivable acts and was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for cocaine theft. Rafael Perez, who has admitted framing innocent people, doctoring crime scenes and lying in court, offered a message to rookie cops: "Whoever chases monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster himself." "The atrocities that were committed by me and those who stand accused are unforgivable acts," the former Los Angeles Police Department officer said. He chose his career with idealism, but it deteriorated into corruption after he was assigned to the Rampart station's gang fighting unit, he said. [continues 735 words]
LOS ANGELES -- With tears in his eyes, the disgraced policeman at the center of a huge corruption scandal apologized as he was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for stealing cocaine. Rafael Perez, who has admitted framing innocent people, doctoring crime scenes and lying in court, offered a message to rookie cops: "Whoever chases monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster himself." The former Los Angeles Police Department officer was sentenced under a plea bargain that grants him immunity for other crimes he has admitted to investigators. [continues 361 words]
LOS ANGELES - With tears in his eyes, the disgraced police officer who set off the worst police corruption scandal in Los Angeles history apologized for unforgivable acts and was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for cocaine theft. Rafael Perez, who has admitted to framing innocent people, doctoring crime scenes and lying in court, offered a message to rookie cops: "Whoever chases monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster himself." "The atrocities that were committed by me and those who stand accused are unforgivable acts," the former Los Angeles Police Department officer said. He chose his career with idealism, but it deteriorated into corruption after he was assigned to the Rampart station's gang fighting unit, he said. [continues 493 words]
LOS ANGELES - The disgraced officer who blew the whistle on one of the worst police scandals in the city' s history faced a five-year prison sentence for stealing cocaine. Rafael Perez was scheduled to be sentenced today in Los Angeles County Superior Court under a plea bargain that grants him immunity for other crimes he has admitted to investigators, said District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. Perez was arrested in August 1998 for investigation of stealing eight pounds of cocaine from an evidence room. Seeking leniency, he began telling investigators about alleged misconduct among fellow officers, contending they beat, framed, stole from and shot innocent people in the city' s crime-ridden Rampart area, near downtown. [continues 139 words]
COURTS: In all, 22 involving police misconduct have been dismissed. LOS ANGELES -- In the latest aftershock from a police scandal that has shaken Los Angeles, a judge Tuesday dismissed 10 drug and weapons convictions because they were tainted by corruption. That brought to 22 the number of cases thrown out because of police misconduct. The scandal is "the most important case I have seen this office handle in my 31 years here. It goes to the heart of the criminal justice system," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, who sought the dismissals. [continues 289 words]
LOS ANGELES - A drug agent stole 650 pounds of cocaine from the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement's Riverside office in 1997, making it look like a forced burglary, a prosecutor said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lonergan presented a methodical overview of evidence she said made it obvious that Richard Wayne Parker was a dirty cop who stole the cocaine on July 4, 1997. When Parker was arrested at his San Juan Capistrano home, authorities found $600,000 in cash in some of the eight vehicles he had recently purchased, the prosecutor said Tuesday in closing arguments. [continues 232 words]
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Medical marijuana activist Todd McCormick was ordered freed from prison today but told he could return there if he is found to be using the drug. "If you are playing any games or trying to skirt anything, you will pay the price for it," U.S. District Judge George H. King warned. "Have I made myself clear to you?" "Very clear," McCormick replied. King ordered McCormick released from prison until an April 22 court hearing. He said McCormick will be tested periodically by federal authorities to ensure he is not using marijuana. [continues 243 words]
