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Charles Feldman: Reversal of LAPD convictions could make future prosecutions tough

Charles Feldman

CNN Correspondent Charles Feldman discusses the impact of a decision by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor to overturn the convictions of three Los Angeles police officers in the Rampart corruption scandal.

Q: When was this ruling released?

Very late on Friday evening. If fact, we've been told by a spokeswoman for the L.A. county district attorney's office that they were surprised and shocked by the timing of the ruling, coming late in the day Friday at the start of the Christmas weekend.

It came out at 11 p.m. local time (2 a.m. EST). That's very unusual timing for a judicial ruling.

The way it out came out is she faxed the ruling to the defense lawyers and the district attorney's office.

Q: Have you heard any explanation for why the judge ruled when she did?

A court spokesman said the judge was concerned that she wasn't going to finish it by Friday. She is scheduled to be on vacation next week, and apparently decided to work through the evening.

Q: What is the significance of this ruling?

The significance is these were the first three police officers brought to trial and then found guilty as a result of this now more than a year-long corruption scandal that is plaguing the LAPD. All eyes were on the verdict originally because it was widely believed in L.A. that it was almost impossible to win a conviction against an L.A. police officer.

The fact that now a judge has overturned this verdict, citing primarily insufficient evidence, may be a bad omen for any potential future prosecutions. Keep in mind that L.A. County now has a new district attorney. (These cases were prosecuted) under the regime of (outgoing District Attorney) Gil Garcetti. And since then there has been an election and the new district attorney has to decide whether he's got a strong enough case with these three officers to go back and retry them -- and probably more significantly -- whether or not he can go ahead and get indictments against other LAPD officers.

If the judge thought that there was insufficient evidence here, there might be a concern that there is insufficient evidence in some future cases.

Q: Could this ruling by a state court judge have any effect on the federal investigation into the Los Angeles Police Department?

The current U.S. attorney in L.A. was one who was installed under the Democratic administration and answered to Janet Reno. Clearly with the Bush win and the new attorney general nominee, it is traditional to have U.S. attorneys submit their resignations when there's a new administration in Washington. There's a good chance, then, that the current U.S. attorney will be replaced, and whether that will have any effect on the investigation going on at the federal level is unclear. It's also unclear whether the new attorney general will want to pursue these cases with the same vigor as the current attorney general.

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Los Angeles Police Department Web site
Justice Department Civil Rights Division
Los Angeles County District Attorney
U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
Federal Bureau of Investigation

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