Trial Opens for 2 Ex-Policemen in Stun Gun Case

No independent witness can testify “with credibility and conviction” that former Huntington Park Police Officer William J. Lustig tortured a handcuffed 17-year-old burglary suspect with a stun gun, his attorney told a jury Thursday.

“This boy had every reason to accuse the police of misconduct. Why? To rid himself of probable criminal prosecution,” attorney Richard A. Levine said in an opening statement as the trial for Lustig and his former fellow officer, Robert Rodriguez, began in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The prosecution contends that Lustig, 32, and Rodriguez, 26, repeatedly used the unauthorized electric stun gun in an effort to extract a confession from Jaime Ramirez. The youth was stopped on street before dawn on Nov. 30, 1986, while he was carrying a bag containing car stereo equipment.

The officers, who were fired after charges were filed, are accused of the felony of assaulting Ramirez under color of authority and causing great bodily injury and misdemeanor inhumane treatment of a prisoner.

Maximum Penalty

The felony carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James E. Koller in his opening statement admitted that Ramirez had stolen the equipment but portrayed him as very cooperative with the officers, despite his contention that he had purchased the stereo in an alley for $25.

“You won’t hear one piece of evidence that Jaime Ramirez attempted to flee these men. You won’t hear one piece of evidence that Jaime Ramirez attempted to fight either of these men,” Koller said, adding that the youth never “resisted in any way” or “mouthed off.”

The district attorney’s office declined to file charges against Ramirez, citing lack of evidence.

Distancing his client from Lustig, Rodriguez’s attorney, William J. Hadden, characterized Ramirez’s statements as inconsistent and said, “No one else will identify Robert Rodriguez in this case as a perpetrator of anything.”