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Judge refuses to lower bail for LAPD officer accused of attempted murder

Durden remains in jail awaiting a preliminary hearing on August 16, after a judge refused to lower the $680,000 bail

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles on Thursday refused to lower the $680,000 bail for a suspended officer from the Los Angeles Police Department charged with six criminal counts, including attempted murder.

Judge Larry P. Fidler's decision means Officer Nino Durden will go back to jail, where he's been since Friday after being arrested at gunpoint.

The charges against Durden come in large part from his former partner, former officer Rafael Perez, who is cooperating with authorities as part of a plea agreement. Perez alleges he and Durden shot gang member Javier Francisco Ovando in October 1996, planted a gun on him and committed perjury, according to state prosecutors. Durden faces five additional charges involving a separate gun-planting incident and robbery case, according to court documents.

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Deputy District Attorney Anne Ingalls argued to keep bail at $680,000, saying it was appropriate in light of "the seriousness of the offense; the fact that Ovando was shot in the chest and the head" and remains paralyzed, and because "there is more impetus for him (Durden) to flee now than before he was charged."

Durden's lawyer disagreed.

"I can understand the judge's reluctance to release him on his own recognizance, " attorney Bill Seki told CNN, "but based on the age of the allegations and other factors--he's not a flight risk, he's not a threat--we thought there was enough to at least reduce bail."

Seki added that he was confident Durden would meet bail and be released sometime soon.

Durden's preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 16.

The Ovando shooting is the centerpiece in the ongoing investigation of LAPD. Investigators initially believed Perez and Durden were on a stakeout in an apartment west of downtown Los Angeles when they encountered Ovando, who allegedly pointed an "assault-type rifle" at them. Durden fired one round, Perez fired three, according to the complaint.

Ovando was struck in the head, chest and hip and left paralyzed by the shooting, and was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in state prison for attacking the two police officers.

Perez now says Durden, after shooting Ovando, left the scene and returned with a gun recovered from an earlier arrest. After planting the gun, both officers concocted a phony story to cover up for the shooting, according to court documents.

After serving three years in prison, Ovando was released after prosecutors determined he had been framed.

Other charges against Durden include framing Miguel Hernandez in 1996 on gun charges and robbing a man at gunpoint in 1997.

Perez, a key witness in the government case, has been cooperating with authorities as part of a plea agreement for stealing eight pounds of cocaine from a police storage facility. Perez admitted witnessing or participating in several unjustified shootings, the planting of drugs and guns on suspects, beatings, filing false arrest reports and committing perjury to secure convictions.

Since Perez began cooperating with investigators, four other officers are facing felony criminal charges while at least 35 officers have quit, been fired, or have been relieved of duty, CNN has learned.

97 felony criminal convictions have been overturned as a result of the scandal.

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