DIRTY POLICE TRICKS -- LAPD
Obwon
The unfolding Rampart Station scandal is
expanding the ranks of L.A. civil litigators handling
frontline cases against bad cops
Paul Elias
California Law Week/Cal Law
October 13, 1999
There's an automated teller machine in
the Rampart Station of the Los Angeles Police
Department. It's open to the public 24 hours a day in
a poor, Latino neighborhood completely bereft of banks.
The ATM is a nice convenience in a
battered section of town used to neither nice nor
convenience. But it is not the only part of the Rampart
Station -- or the entire LAPD, for that matter -- that
spits out money.
Last year, the city paid $3.7 million to
settle abuse and wrongful arrest claims lodged against
police officers, and that was an exceptionally good
year for the department. In the last 10 years, L.A.
taxpayers doled out more than $106 million for an
average upwards of $10 million a year, according to
City Attorney James Hahn's office. L.A. is second only
to New York City when it comes to paying for the
actions of abusive cops.
But as things stand today, L.A. may soon
surpass even New York as the municipality with the
costliest force in the nation, notwithstanding Abner
Louima's having been sodomized at the hands of the
NYPD. That's because a dirty little LAPD secret at the
Rampart Station has exploded into the biggest police
corruption scandal to hit L.A. in decades. Several Moby
Dick-sized civil rights cases will be filed -- actions
that may make the Rodney King case ($3.8 million jury
verdict, $1.4 million in attorneys fees) seem like a
mere nuisance suit.
There's "credible" information -- that's
the phrase used by Police Chief Bernard Parks -- that
Rampart cops took part in at least two "dirty
shootings" that resulted in three injuries, a death and
two frame jobs that sent innocent men to prison. So far
12 of Rampart's finest have been suspended or fired
because of the burgeoning scandal. On Tuesday, the
first suit was filed.
The two shootings alone will undoubtedly
lead to millions of dollars worth of verdicts and
judgments, predict Southern California lawyers on both
sides of the bar.
So far, the likely winners appear not to
be the usual downtown and Westside suspects -- civil
rights attorneys who always manage to get onto the
bigger police cases. Heavy hitters such as Johnnie
Cochran Jr. and Stephen Yagman (who is suspended from
practice until next month for fee chicanery in a police
misconduct case) have, for now, been left on the
sidelines.
Instead, the victors to date are a
loose-knit crew of Southern California Latino lawyers,
whose clients knew somebody who knew somebody who knew
a good civil rights attorney -- who spoke Spanish.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," says solo
Antonio Rodriguez, who is working on more than one case
stemming from actions within the Rampart district.
"Since this broke, we've been getting hit with a ton of
cases coming out of Rampart."
Much of that iceberg may melt already
completed cases on the criminal side. District Attorney
Gil Garcetti and his deputies are reviewing hundreds of
criminal convictions that may have been obtained in
part by perjured testimony from Rampart cops. The
review could lead to dozens of reversed convictions,
which in turn would bring on more wrongful arrest
suits.
Already, prosecutors have dropped a
three-year-old weapons charge against Santos Iyala
because one of the Rampart cops fired for misconduct is
the primary witness. At the same time, a judge has
lifted two civil injunctions won by the city attorney
against the so-called 18th Street Gang.
=======================================
CLARENCE THOMAS -- ARE YOU LISTENING???
--Obwon
=======================================
The injunctions bar named gang members from
congregating and impose other restrictions, and they
were won with testimony from the same Rampart cops
("Law of the Streets," March 22).
The continuing disclosures of bad
craziness in the Rampart Station have prompted turmoil
among police brass and forced city officials to prepare
for the worst. City Attorney Hahn, who plans to run for
mayor in 2001, says payouts are the inevitable result
of a police force of 10,000.
But in an acknowledgement of just how
much time his attorneys devote to the LAPD, Hahn has
reorganized his office to set up a special 30-lawyer
unit that is dedicated full time to police issues --
from negotiating labor contracts and advising the
department to defending it against the 200-250 cases
filed against the cops each year. Hahn says the
reorganization, as well as the L.A. City Council giving
him money to hire more lawyers, has led directly to a
decrease in payouts over the last few years.
Still, he says high-profile cases such as
those unfolding in the wake of the Rampart Station
activities lead to bigger payouts because juries are
prone to outrage over even the most minor of police
cases. "Our worst year occurred immediately after the
Rodney King beating," says Hahn. As such, he says he
has been advising the City Council to prepare for a
costly year of litigation.
The plaintiffs' lawyers in the King riots
cases grew accustomed to press and television coverage
of their every move. The lawyers working up the Rampart
cases are unsung in the mainstream media and unknown by
such defense big shots as Louis "Skip" Miller, a
partner with Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser,
Weil and Shapiro who has represented the LAPD time and
time again.
But Spanish-language television and
newspapers in the area sing their praises routinely.
None more so than the Montebello firm of Moreno,
Becerra & Guerrero, which has as a client one of the
biggest victims of the breaking LAPD scandal: Javier
Ovando.
On Sept. 15, Garcetti's office made an
announcement about Ovando that stunned a community not
easily astounded after Rodney King and O.J. Simpson.
Prosecutors, a spokeswoman announced, we're moving to
free the young gang member from prison. At the time
Ovando, 22, was three years into a 23-year sentence for
attempted murder of a police officer.
But what had really happened on the night
Ovando was arrested in 1996, according to one of the
two officers who was there, was a frame job of intense
proportions. The cops handcuffed Ovando and shot him in
the head and chest. As Ovando lay unconscious, the cops
planted an assault rifle with a banana clip on him.
Cops call such guns "throw downs." They then arrested
him for attempted murder. Ovando, an illegal immigrant
from Honduras who speaks little English, survived the
shooting but is paralyzed below the waist.
==========================================
1996 is the very same 'police culture' within which
the OJ Simpson case evolved! This kind of thing
doesn't "Just Happen" as we learned from Scarpetta and
other police testimonies given before various
investigative commissions!
At the time of the OJ Simpson case, I became
impressed by the fact (as did many other people) that
Mark Fuhrman was unable to explain convincingly why he
had taken so long to respond to the first call. We
later were to learn that Mr. Fuhrman, when asked his
own whereabouts in the times immediately preceeding the
killings, lied! He said he was returning from a police
training session/barbecue of sorts which would have
covered his whereabouts! We were to later learn that
that activity was actually held the day before (a day
earlier than he'd claimed). Thusly, we still do not
have an answer as to where Mr. Fuhrman was or what he
was doing.
That became important because there was quite some
indication that Mr. Fuhrman himself might very well
have had some kind of relationship with the Victim!
And, it was further speculated that Mr. Fuhrman, though
his police work, would have known of Goldman, who very
well might have been selling drugs himself.
That's not idle speculations since his friends, such
as Michael Nigg, were being killed off under unusual
circumstances. Mr. Nigg, if you remember was shot in a
parking lot where he was taking his girlfriend to
dinner. He was accossted by two men, one of whom shot
him in the head. The investigating officer put the
whole thing down as a robbery homicide, even though
Niggs Girlfirend was never asked for money, nor does
she say that the shooter ever spoke to Nigg or anyone
else.
So, the wild west culture of the LAPD, is so
unbelieveably untamed that we are only now discovering
Policemen have committed and assisted with
murder/homicide and the framing of an innocent man!
There has to be an impunity, developed over time and
assisted with at least a culture of anecdotes/policy of
silence and official 'neglect' to support a vision that
crimes of such magnitude could even possibly escape
detection/disclosure for long.
-----Obwon
==========================================
His trial attorney, Deputy Public
Defender Tamar Toister, made a routine decision to keep
him off the witness stand during his trial. Despite the
fact that Ovando had no criminal record, Toister was
naturally fearful the jury would believe the word of
two cops over that of an admitted member of the 18th
Street gang. The judge, pointing out that Ovando lacked
remorse after the jury brought back a guilty verdict,
slammed him with a maximum sentence of 23 years in
prison. When contacted for this story, Toister cited
the attorney-client privilege in declining to discuss
whether or not Ovando told her he was framed.
A jury convicted Ovando in 1996, two
years before one of the arresting officers, Rafael
Perez, got caught entering Rampart Station's evidence
room and replacing eight pounds of cocaine with a
similar amount of flour. Perez pleaded guilty to
cocaine charges in September, and his sentence is
pending. He is now singing for a lighter prison term.
Perez has rolled on his Rampart partner Nino Durden,
blaming him for shooting and framing Ovando.
While most of L.A.'s criminal justice
community sat stunned by the news, attorney Gregory
Moreno calmly picked up the phone, booked himself a
round-trip plane ticket, and arrived in Vacaville at
California's prison hospital on the same day that
Ovando's release was announced.
By the time Ovando left the prison the
following day, he had a signed contingency fee
agreement with Moreno. "I can't think of a more
outrageous case," says Danilo Becerra, one of Moreno's
partners. "He was handcuffed, shot and framed -- all by
the cops. Don't forget that he went to prison thinking
he was going to have to serve 85 percent of a 23-year
sentence."
Becerra and his two partners were fresh
out of Loyola Law School when they opened their firm in
East Los Angeles in 1977. From the beginning, they've
taken on just about every poor Latino who has walked
through their door with a complaint, including medical
malpractice, product liability and, of course, civil
rights violations at the hands of law enforcement
officers.
They've lost a lot of cases, including a
fair number of police brutality claims. But they've won
enough, Becerra said, to buy their own building 15
years ago. For instance, Moreno just settled a product
liability case in federal court against drug giant
Warner-Lambert Co. for $90,000 -- with the firm getting
a little more than a third in fees. Moreno, who could
not be reached for comment, also recently settled a
medical malpractice suit against L.A. County that
netted the firm $91,000 in fees and costs.
But more to the point, the four-lawyer
firm has won two multimillion-dollar settlements from
Southern California law enforcement agencies in recent
years. In 1994, an L.A. Superior Court jury brought
back a $4.4 million verdict against the county after
sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man they
mistakenly thought had brandished a gun. Two years
earlier, Moreno and Becerra negotiated a $3.7 million
settlement for a 17-year-old man paralyzed by what
Becerra calls "sloppy police procedures" during a
shoot-out involving the Bell Police Department in 1991.
Meanwhile, there's a second shooting that
Officer Perez has exposed that could turn out to be
just as shocking as the Ovando incident -- and
lucrative for plaintiffs attorneys. Like the Ovando
case, the victims are shunning the downtown and
Westside firms for small-time lawyers who have been in
business for a long time: Los Angeles solos Jorge
Gonzalez and Antonio Rodriguez.
Perez has told his debriefers that on
July 20, 1996, nine Rampart officers stormed an
apartment building in response to reports that a
retaliatory attack for an earlier drive-by shooting was
about to occur. According to Perez all hell broke loose
at the apartment building as the cops ran unprovoked
and helter skelter through the hallways, spraying
gunfire. The police killed Juan Saldana and injured
Jose Perez and Salvador Ochoa. The 19-year-old Perez
was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. After
sitting in jail for 10 months awaiting trial, Perez
took a deal to plead guilty in exchange for time
served.
Former Officer Perez, who was on the
shooting scene, now claims the whole incident was a
setup and that officers used throw downs on Jose Perez
and Saldana. Gonzalez and Rodriguez are representing
Jose Perez and the Saldana family. According to an
attorney vying to sign up Ochoa, Johnnie Cochran is
also making a play for him. Cochran did not return
telephone calls.
Incredibly, and apparently unrelated to
the current scandal, Rodriguez recently hit pay dirt in
an ancient Rampart murder case that will probably see
his client released after doing 19 years in prison.
Jose Luis Frutis was shot by police at
the Rampart Station while being interrogated about a
slaying in 1980. The cops said they shot Frutis in
self-defense. A jury convicted Frutis of first-degree
murder for the charge that had brought him into the
station, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
But earlier this year, another convict
confessed to the murder. A judge last month ordered
Garcetti's office to show why Frutis shouldn't be
released from prison, given the new evidence. A hearing
has been scheduled for next month and Rodriguez says
Frutis' freedom is almost assured. "The civil cases are
going to be good," says Rodriguez. "But man, getting
Jose out of prison is something. That's probably the
best thing I have ever done in my life."
Criminal defense attorney Dennis Chang
has made a good living defending 18th Street gang
bangers. From his 29th floor office in the mid-Wilshire
District, Chang has a fantastic view of the city's
skyline. He also has an expansive view of the Rampart
Division, including MacArthur Park.
Through his criminal defense connections
came Ismael Hernandez last year with this tale: On Feb.
26, 1998, Hernandez and a bunch of friends were hanging
outside a tattoo parlor when the cops rolled up and
arrested a handful of them. Back at the Rampart
Station, Officer Brian Hewitt beat Hernandez so badly
that he puked blood. The cops cut Hernandez loose a few
hours later without charging him.
After an internal investigation, the LAPD
fired Hewitt for beating Hernandez. The resulting
lawsuit, Hernandez v. Los Angeles, 99-3122, is now
pending in federal court. It was Chang's first-ever
foray into civil rights litigation. He has subsequently
filed two more Rampart-related cases and is sitting on
another that will probably yield big bucks. He
represents Javier Ovando's 2-year-old daughter. The
daughter's mother and Ovando are no longer together and
Chang is going to allege that the LAPD deprived the
daughter of Ovando's companionship by railroading him
into prison. "She's clean -- the city can't throw any
stones at her," Chang says of his young client. "But I
wish I had Ovando, too."
Chang says the publicity he's gotten
because of his newest client is generating more
Rampart-related civil rights referrals to his firm,
Park, Smith, Chang & Lim, which is mostly a civil
litigation outfit. "I'm the only one who does criminal
defense," says Chang. "My partners used to always raise
an eyebrow when my clients came into the office. Now
they ask them if they want coffee."
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American Lawyer Media.
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ART:
Fiona McDougall
Rampart
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Polish Prince
law enforcement agencies. There is corruption with power. It is quite
human(look at our president). Some so-called Officers have the mentality of
our president. Some overcome this frailty. Not all law enforcement is
corrupt. Such people were NEVER Police Officers in my way of thinking. It's
not a job, but a vocation. Yes, I am a former Cop. I know there are many,
like myself, who would never cross the blue line. Your report, discredits a
few,"Bad Apples". Such people seep into law enforcement, such people seep
into the executive branch of government.
Obwon wrote in message <38063b5f...@news.idt.net>...
Micbloo
>law enforcement agencies.
And who will be responsible for maintaining law and order? Or will we be on our
best behavior like when the teacher leaves the room?
Get real.
Obwon
is true other than the one that the founding fathers
passed to us -- We should expect gov't to be evil, to
breed it and protect it. It may not start out that
way, but eventually, given our blind trust and faith,
gov't will manage to either fall into corrupt hands or
corrupt the hands who manage it.
It is therefore that eternal vigiliance is the key
to the protection of our freedoms, and neither should
we be fooled by claims of unproven honor bestowed upon
practicing officials merely as a result of their
to-date performance or the esteem of their positon and
staff or office.
To prove an officer deserving of honors and public
faith, for example, he must already have ended his or
her career in an exmplary fashion. This is because,
while that career is still in progress of being built,
it must always withstand question and be demonstrably
above same. This goes for not just policemen but all
public officials as well.
I don't, and I don't believe that anyone but a loon
would, condemn all policemen as corrupt out of hand --
suspect, yes, definitely! But not corrupt until they
are shown to be by the very same standards that are
applied to the citizentry they police or officiate for!
I don't feel there is any need for a policeman or
any group of policemen to rise in defense of the police
and/or the department! This is because the department
defends itself by the need the public has for it! The
police and the department defend themselves by their
performance, either in preventing crime and/or bringing
criminals to justice! But most importantly by policing
themselves!
If the police and/or the department endeaver to
collude with or cover up corruption, then the damage to
the function of government is fatally defeated and all
must be swept aside because who was and who was not
actually tolerant is all but impossible to decide.
The public that cherishes it's freedom must place no
undeserved faith in institutions and/or ceremonies,
traditions etc., once their faith has been breeched!
Police and politicians/official should all be so warned
and therefore seek to do all in their power to see that
such breeches of public trust either do not occur, or
if they occur, that they be disclosed and repudiated
quickly.
Obwon