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LAPD corruption investigation to result in few charges

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The criminal investigation into alleged widespread corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department is expected to conclude by December with no further prosecutions, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley said.

Since the corruption probe began nearly four years ago, eight officers have been charged with criminal misconduct. More than 70 officers in the LAPD's Rampart Division faced allegations of planting drugs and guns on suspects, fabricating arrest reports, beating suspects in custody and in some cases shooting unarmed, innocent people during gang sweeps.

"We are in the process of reviewing 45 cases, but we don't anticipate there will be additional charges filed," said Jane Robison, Cooley's spokeswoman.

Most of the cases involving alleged misconduct will be dismissed because of insufficient evidence or because the statute of limitations expired, sources said.

Revelations of alleged misconduct emerged after former officer Rafael Perez was caught stealing eight pounds of cocaine from a police evidence room in March 1998. Perez, who entered a plea agreement with state prosecutors, was granted state immunity in exchange for his cooperation in the corruption probe.

After more than 4,000 pages of sworn testimony, Perez described how officers in the anti-gang unit framed dozens of innocent people during gang raids west of downtown Los Angeles.

In one case that defined the magnitude of corruption, Perez described how he and his former partner, Nino Durden, shot Javier Francisco Ovando multiple times and conspired to cover up the shooting by planting a gun on him.

Ovando, paralyzed from the shooting, was convicted of assaulting the officers and sentenced to prison. He was released after investigators concluded that the shooting was unjustified. After serving three years in prison, Ovando sued the city of Los Angeles and settled the largest civil lawsuit in city history, $15 million.

In March, Durden entered a plea deal with state and federal prosecutors stemming from the Ovando shooting and other charges. Federal authorities have opened a separate investigation into the Rampart corruption scandal, including possible civil rights violations against Perez for his role in the Ovando shooting.

Durden is expected to serve at least seven years and eight months in state prison when he is sentenced. Perez was released from a five-year prison term in July.

The scandal has led to more than 100 criminal convictions being overturned. The city of Los Angeles also signed a consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department requiring federal oversight of the police department's management and training policies.

Former Los Angeles police Officer Rafael Perez, right.

The city has paid over $30 million dollars in civil lawsuits related to the corruption scandal, but some city officials estimate the costs could exceed $125 million when the remaining cases are settled.

On Wednesday, Cooley outlined a series of written protocols to investigate allegations of corruption, including a Justice System Integrity Division to review cases involving probable cause against officers and a response team to investigate any officer involved shooting or in custody deaths on the scene.

"Never before in the 151-year history of the district attorney's office has that office issued written protocols which outline how, when and under what circumstances prosecutors will investigate allegations of criminal misconduct by law enforcement employees," Cooley said.

Had such a mechanism been in place earlier, Cooley said it "would have probably led to the early detection of disgraced former Officer Rafael Perez."

-- From CNN Producer Stanley Wilson