6 more convictions overturned in LAPD corruption scandal

March 23, 2000
Web posted at: 6:58 p.m. EST (2358 GMT)

In this story: 13 officers suspended or dismissed Public reprimand for two Los Angeles officials RELATED STORIES, SITES

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Six more people had their convictions overturned on Thursday in connection with the LAPD corruption scandal after prosecutors determined the arrests and prosecutions of the individuals were rife with misconduct and falsified evidence.

That brings the total number of cases dismissed in the ongoing Rampart division scandal to 45.

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Charles Harris, 42, served 19 months in prison on a cocaine possession and sale charge.

"I was set up all the way. The whole thing was a set up. The whole thing was a misunderstanding," he said.

Former LAPD officer Rafael Perez, the central figure in the scandal, told investigators he and another LAPD officer did not obtain consent to search Harris' vehicle, that Harris was not advised of his rights, and that Harris did not make statements attributed to him in the police report.

According to court documents, Perez admitted stealing $500 from Harris. He also admitted that three guns and $6,000 recovered in a search of Harris' residence were not booked into evidence. Instead, they were returned to Harris' wife in exchange for information on other suspected drug dealers.

The judge also overturned the convictions of William Zepeda, 28, and Argelia Diaz, 25, on cocaine charges.

Perez has confessed that he did not observe either Zepeda or Diaz selling drugs and that he did not obtain permission to enter or search their apartment. Perez told investigators he stole a large sum of money from their home.

Three additional convictions were overturned, but the names were not released because the defendants were juveniles when they were arrested on drug and weapons charges.

The scandal was sparked when Perez told investigators, in a plea bargain, about corruption in the Rampart Division anti-gang unit known as Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH).

The information was given in return for a light sentence on conviction of stealing nearly $1 million of cocaine from a police evidence room.

None of the other LAPD officers involved in the tainted convictions have been charged with a crime, although Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti says he is preparing to file charges against an undetermined number of officers.

Last September LAPD chief Bernard Parks announced that 12 officers had either been suspended or dismissed in connection with the corruption probe. A 13th was later added to the list.

All the officers had been or were then assigned to the Rampart Division station, the main focus of the investigation. Perez and his partner, Nino Durden, had been members of the CRASH unit, as had most of the other officers who were relieved of their duties.

Perez admitted shooting and framing at least one suspect, Javier Ovando, who was left paralyzed and sentenced to 23 years in prison for assaulting police officers.

Last September 16 at the request of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, Ovando was ordered to be released from prison -- the first time in Los Angeles County that prosecutors had asked a judge to free a convicted man.

Since then, about 40 convictions based upon work done by the implicated officers have been overturned.

Last week Mayor Richard Riordan publicly reprimanded Garcetti and Parks for "acting like children" during the corruption scandal.

Riordan told the two to stop bickering and consider the best interests of the city.

The two traded words after Parks apparently ordered his detectives to stop cooperating with the District Attorney's Office, as he considered Garcetti had bungled the investigation.

Parks has repeatedly criticized Garcetti for failing to prosecute a single Rampart officer. Garcetti has retorted that he wants ironclad cases against the officers before he goes to court.

Meanwhile the U.S. Justice Department plans to intensify its civil rights investigation of the scandal and is demanding to know why the LAPD failed to implement reforms recommended after the 1991 beating of Rodney King.

City attorney wants independent review of LAPD corruption probe
March 21, 2000
Los Angeles mayor scolds police chief, DA: 'Start acting like adults'
March 16, 2000
Anti-gang units a casualty of Los Angeles police scandal
March 13, 2000
LAPD chief enlists FBI's help to probe scandal
February 23, 2000
Mayor wants tobacco money to fund police scandal settlements
February 17, 2000
Outside probe of LAPD corruption scandal demanded
February 16, 2000
Testimony: Allegedly corrupt LAPD cops gave each other awards
February 10, 2000
LAPD chief: Ex-officer says convictions against 99 people wrongfully obtained
January 27, 2000

The Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles County District Attorney
United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California
Federal Bureau of Investigation

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