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Judge approves new charges against LAPD officers

July 15, 2000
Web posted at: 2:57 a.m. EDT (0657 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN)--A California judge Friday allowed prosecutors to proceed with new criminal charges against three Los Angeles Police Department officers implicated in the city's worst corruption scandal.

Friday's action was largely a technical matter as the officers -- Michael Buchanan, Brian Liddy and Sgt. Edward Ortiz -- had already entered pleas of not guilty to the charges the day before. All of the charges relate to allegations that the men falsified reports to justify arrests.

Buchanan, who worked at the Rampart Division's anti-gang unit, was charged with four felony counts and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice involving arrest incidents in 1996 and 1997, according to court documents.

Investigators now say that Buchanan lied about a July 1996 arrest in which he claimed that two gang members rammed their pickup truck into him and another officer following a pursuit. According to court documents, Buchanan stated that gang members Raul Munoz and Cesar Navidad struck him, knocking him onto the hood and windshield as he tried to detain them.

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Liddy, who also faces felony criminal charges in another case, said he was knocked to the ground after Navidad kicked his door open. Their arrest report was approved by Ortiz. He and Liddy face other charges related to a separate gun-planting case.

But former officer Rafael Perez, who is cooperating with authorities following a plea agreement for a drug conviction, testified he witnessed the incident and the truck never hit the officers. Perez claims the officers framed both men so they could arrest them, according to court documents. The convictions against the men were dismissed in February.

Buchanan also pleaded not guilty Thursday to perjury charges involving a separate gun possession arrest in 1997.

In another development Friday, Buchanan was released on his own recognizance despite an alleged terrorist threat he made against an LAPD officer investigating him, according to state prosecutors.

Police investigators stated Friday they no longer believe those threats, which Buchanan allegedly made to a fellow officer during a party, to be viable.

Four officers have been charged with felony counts since the investigation began in September 1999. At least 30 officers have been relieved of duty, fired, or resigned as a result of the corruption probe.

If convicted, the officers could face several years in state prison.

So far, 97 convictions have been set aside as a result of the criminal investigation.

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