Criminal charges due against police in L.A. scandal

April 24, 2000
Web posted at: 2:36 p.m. EDT (1836 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Criminal charges were to be filed Monday against three Los Angeles police officers, the first prosecutions of law enforcement personnel in the city's police corruption scandal, the District Attorney's office said.

"A criminal complaint will be filed against Sergeant Edward Ortiz, Detective Brian Liddy and Officer Paul Harper" for allegedly framing a suspected gang member on a weapons charge in April 1996, said Victoria Pipkin, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Policing the police

"The officers will be arrested and booked. They will not be allowed to surrender themselves under any conditions," she said. Attorneys for the three officers declined to comment.

The three men from the police department's Rampart Division have already been relieved of duty and are named in other corruption investigations, the Los Angeles Times reported.

They must be charged within two days, before the statute of limitations on their alleged crimes expires.

Ortiz, 43, Liddy, 38, and Harper, 33, will likely face charges of perjury, falsifying an arrest report and conspiracy for allegedly planting a gun on suspected gang member Allan Lobos during a raid at a party thrown by the notorious 18th Street gang, Pipkin said.

The Los Angeles district attorney has asked that Lobos' conviction be thrown out.

More than two dozen officers have been fired, relieved of duty or have quit as a result of the corruption probe, which involves police accused of framing, beating and sometimes shooting innocent people.

More convictions overturned in LAPD probe
April 21, 2000
Police commission unveils LAPD review panel
April 12, 2000
Federal grand jury indicts LAPD officer, ex-officer
April 5, 2000
Four more cases dismissed in LAPD probe
March 30, 2000
6 more convictions overturned in LAPD corruption scandal
March 23, 2000

The Los Angeles Police Department
LAPD Links and Information
Los Angeles County District Attorney
United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California
U.S. Department of Justice
Court TV Online
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.