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Four more convictions may be overturned in LAPD scandal

May 23, 2000
Web posted at: 1:01 p.m. EST (1701 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- The Los Angeles District Attorney's office was seeking to have the convictions of two adults and two youths overturned Tuesday as part of the ongoing investigation into police corruption.

While the cases of the two adults involved the Rampart division, which has been the focus of the investigation, the convictions of the two youths originated at the Los Angeles Police Department's Southeast division.

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According to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, the source of the information for the juvenile cases came from an internal LAPD investigation. The office did not identify the names of the juveniles.

The two adults involved were Juan Cerna Rojo and Gricelda Orellana, who both pleaded guilty in 1997 to one count each of possession for sale of cocaine. They were sentenced to two years in state prison; both are currently on parole.

The District Attorney's office has alleged that former LAPD officer Rafael Perez and his former partner Nino Durden falsified information about the arrests, and that Durden gave false testimony at a preliminary hearing.

Perez has been cooperating with government investigators as part of a plea agreement, following a cocaine theft from a police evidence room.

If Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler grants the four petitions, a total of 79 criminal convictions will have been overturned in the wake of the scandal.