Local News in Brief : Officer Starts Jail Stay
A former Huntington Park police officer, convicted of aiding in the stun gun torture of a teen-age burglary suspect, turned himself in Monday to begin serving a six-month jail sentence.
Robert Rodriguez, 27, had been free on $3,000 bail pending an appeal in the case. A spokeswoman for Rodriguez’s lawyer, William J. Hadden, said the appeal had not been abandoned.
“If the appeal fails, he already would have served some of his time,” the spokeswoman said.
Rodriguez and William J. Lustig, 32, were convicted last December of felony assault under the color of authority and misdemeanor inhumane treatment of a prisoner for the Nov. 30, 1986, interrogation of Jaime Ramirez, 18. Lustig is in County Jail, awaiting transfer to prison.
The jury found that Lustig used the stun gun during the interrogation. He was sentenced to two years in State Prison last week. The jury was split on whether Rodriguez used the stun gun but convicted him of aiding in the torture.
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