D.A. Will Use Outside Labs to Check on LAPD

The district attorney’s office announced Friday that it will begin hiring independent firearms experts to selectively “verify or further scrutinize” results of firearms analysis performed by the Los Angeles Police Department.

In some cases, prosecutors might even bypass the LAPD crime lab altogether, although “that has not been entirely worked out,” said Sterling E. Norris, the deputy district attorney in charge of special trials.

Discredited Tests

The emerging policy was announced by Norris after he and another senior prosecutor, Peter Bozanich, met Friday with Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. Norris also said independent firearms experts are to be selected next week to conduct a full evaluation of the equipment and procedures used at the LAPD lab. In addition, Gates will authorize the purchase of better and additional photographic equipment for the firearms investigative unit, Norris said.

The review of the firearms unit and the district attorney’s new policy come in the wake of LAPD firearms tests that had erroneously linked a gun found in the possession of former Sheriff’s Deputy Rickey Ross to the murders of three South-Central Los Angeles prostitutes.

It was those LAPD results that led county prosecutors to file first-degree murder charges against Ross. But the charges were dropped on Monday after independent tests cleared the gun.

Norris said the police chief “feels very bad about the entire situation” and is offering “complete cooperation” in the proposed remedial measures. “He said he will do anything necessary” to prevent future errors by the LAPD’s firearms experts, Norris told a press conference.

Gates did not return telephone calls to his office Friday afternoon.

‘Find Whatever Is Broke’

But a department spokesman quoted the chief as saying: “Our goal is to find whatever is broke and fix it.” He said the district attorney’s office “certainly will have our full support and cooperation.” Officials would not comment further.

Norris said on Friday that further firearms tests are to be performed on the three slugs and a shell casing found at the murder scenes and that “there is still that possibility” that Ross’ gun may yet be tied to the murders. Those results, he added, may not become available until after June 1.

Ross, 40, an 18-year veteran of the department, has proclaimed his innocence from the time he was arrested in Los Angeles early Feb. 23 after what was described as a routine traffic check.

Pistol Found

Ross was seated next to a prostitute and he drove erratically away from the curb as officers approached the car, police said then. Officers found Ross’ nine-millimeter semiautomatic pistol in the trunk of his county-owned undercover car.

Two LAPD firearms experts conclusively linked that gun to the three slugs and a shell casing found at the murder sites of Judith Simpson, 27; Cynthia Walker, 35, and Latanya Johnson, 24. But a subsequent test, conducted by defense expert Charles Morton, a highly regarded Oakland specialist, contradicted the LAPD finding.

After that, Deputy Dist. Atty. William Hodgman agreed to a third test, conducted by Al Biasotti of the California Department of Justice and John Murdock of the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department. Their tests supported Morton’s conclusion.

Further Tests Suggested

All the tests were performed at the LAPD lab, using the same equipment, Norris said. It was Biasotti who then suggested that the slugs and shell casing in the Ross case be further tested, at the state Department of Justice lab in Sacramento.

Norris and Bozanich noted that there is a difference of opinion among firearms experts as to the efficacy and reliability of photography in the testing of firearms evidence. Firearms experts also agree that such forensics testing is more an art form than a science, one in which experts may disagree in their interpretations of results.

Morton earlier and Norris on Friday also raised the issue of the adequacy of training of the LAPD’s firearms experts in general. “There is no quick school,” Norris said. “It takes years of on-the-job-training” to become an expert in the field.

‘Produce Good Science’

Civilian scientists may be more qualified than trained police investigators to conduct such tests, Morton said. “If you have someone at the top (of a lab) who is a good scientist, their job is to produce good science, not just support for a case,” he said.

Indeed, even before the Ross controversy, the LAPD’s scientific investigations division has begun moving toward “civilianizing” the firearms investigative unit that it oversees, according to Joe De Laudurantey, who recently left as the division’s head to become Harbor Division captain.

Until about 3 1/2 years ago, he said, training in the firearms unit had been very limited, although that has improved recently.