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First officers enter pleas in LAPD's Rampart Division scandal

May 16, 2000
Web posted at: 11:09 a.m. EST (1509 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Three Los Angeles police officers pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that they filed a false police report and committed perjury.

Two sergeants, Edward Ortiz and Brian Liddy, and officer Paul Harper are the first officers to be charged in connection with the LAPD corruption scandal. The three have been relieved of duty.

The charges stem from the April 1996 arrest of suspected gang member Allan Lobos. The criminal complaint against the three officers charged that Liddy "or an unidentified co-conspirator rubbed the gun in Allan Lobos' fingers," that Ortiz "falsified statements in his sergeant's log" and that Harper "knowingly relied on the false arrest report in preparation for filing the probable cause determination."

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Defense attorneys for the three officers believe the charges against their clients are based on the testimony of Rafael Perez. Former LAPD officer Perez unleashed the Rampart scandal when he testified that he and fellow anti-gang unit officers shot people, planted guns and drugs on innocent people and lied about it on the stand. Perez offered the testimony in exchange for a plea agreement on charges that he stole $1 million of cocaine from a police evidence locker.

"Perez is a liar," argued Barry Levin, attorney for Ortiz.

All three attorneys maintained their clients' innocence.

"They deny committing the crime. The defense is they didn't do what's alleged by Mr. Perez," said Joel Isaacson, Harper's attorney.

To date, more than 20 LAPD officers have been fired, suspended, relieved of duty or have quit as a result of the scandal and another 50 are under internal affairs investigations.

Defense attorneys indicated they would ask for a change of venue for the trials, arguing the district attorney had leaked more information to the media than the attorneys were given in discovery.

For its part, the district attorney's office asked Judge Larry Fidler for a gag order, arguing the defense was trying the case in the media. The judge denied the request and told the district attorney he would reconsider it once he saw it in writing. The judge also denied a defense request to ban cameras from the courtroom.

A July 3 preliminary hearing was set to determine if there is enough evidence to require the three LAPD officers to stand trial.

In a related development, a federal judge has thrown out the first federal conviction believed tainted by the Rampart scandal. Chief U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter said he had "very little confidence" in the officers who arrested and testified against Jorge Sisco Aguilar, who was convicted of being an illegal immigrant in possession of a weapon.

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6 more convictions overturned in LAPD corruption scandal
March 23, 2000
City attorney wants independent review of LAPD corruption probe
March 21, 2000

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