Sergeant Worked for Defense Team While on Duty : Police: Officer was an investigator for four colleagues accused in Dalton Avenue raid. He says he had approval, but the department denies it.

A veteran Los Angeles police sergeant, while on duty, spent weeks this summer working as an investigator for four officers charged with vandalism in the “39th and Dalton” case, and said he did so with the approval of his Police Department supervisors.

Sgt. Robert Kavanaugh said he was so involved in trying to exonerate his fellow officers that beginning Aug. 1, he worked almost daily for six weeks in the law offices of one of the defendants’ attorneys. His work for the defense included conducting stakeouts, interviewing potential witnesses and doing other research for use when the officers stand trial next week.

The sergeant said he was paid his city salary during the defense work--which means taxpayers are paying the police to work not only for the prosecution but also the defense.

The case stems from a drug raid two years ago in South-Central Los Angeles, where officers allegedly destroyed property in a group of apartment units near 39th Street and Dalton Avenue. Four officers have been charged with criminal misconduct and about 30 others are awaiting disciplinary hearings.

Kavanaugh said he helped the defense because he and his LAPD supervisors wanted everything done to ensure that the accused officers had the best legal defense possible. But department policy prohibits such activity and police supervisors say they never authorized Kavanaugh to assist the defense.

But Kavanaugh said: “It’s never been a secret. I got a clear sign from my supervisors that it was OK to do it.”

Kavanaugh said he is convinced the officers are innocent. “They’re charged with conspiracy to commit vandalism,” he said. “But no way are they guilty, even remotely guilty.”

The defense work by Kavanaugh, a 30-year officer who plans to retire soon, has triggered outrage from prosecutors.

“It’s shocking that they would do this,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Darden, who is prosecuting the case and now plans to weigh whether it has been jeopardized.

“It disturbs me that Kavanaugh or anybody else in the LAPD would in any way be assisting criminal defendants simply because they are police officers,” he added. “I don’t see why a police officer who is a criminal defendant should be given special consideration.”

Police Department officials, however, disputed Kavanaugh’s contention that he was permitted to work as a criminal defense investigator. They said he first became involved in the case whenhe was asked to serve as a defense representative for several of the officers in administrative hearings. From there, he came in contact with defense attorneys and began sharing his information with them.

Officials said they were only allowing him to review the criminal defense case so he could use it to defend other officers at the administrative hearings. But they emphasized that he was not to work for the lawyers.

“I never gave him approval to be a criminal defense investigator or anything like that,” said Kavanaugh’s direct supervisor, Lt. Ken Small. “But he was given specific direction that if he wanted to work with those four defense attorneys, he would have to do so as a ‘defense rep.’ ”

Cmdr. William Booth, the department’s chief spokesman, said Kavanaugh was advised not to cross over the line and help the defense attorneys. He said the department would review Kavanaugh’s conduct.

“There’s still a little bit of a mystery there, as to what he’s been attending to and in what capacity,” Booth said.

But Kavanaugh insisted that his superiors approved of his efforts to assist the accused officers.

“Small knew what I was doing all along,” the sergeant said. “I told him a number of times. He didn’t object to it. He didn’t tell me that I couldn’t do it. I even put what I was doing in my logs, and I submitted those logs to him.”

By early August, Kavanaugh was working out of the law offices of Michael Stone, an attorney for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, who is representing one of the accused officers.

In his work for the defense, Kavanaugh said he interviewed inmates in a state prison and the San Bernardino County Jail, obtaining information he said was “fruitful” for proving the officers are innocent.

He said he tape-recorded interviews with about five neighbors near 39th and Dalton and other witnesses. “I turned the tapes over to the defense attorneys,” he said.

He also said he conducted stakeouts in the neighborhood “on several occasions” in the hope of uncovering evidence of drug activity there, as part of a defense argument that police had reason to believe there was drug activity inside the apartments.

He reviewed records and other documents at police headquarters. “I was looking for records of people who may have been there that night that we didn’t know about. I thought maybe I could interview them and get a different story.”

He said he also compared taped interviews with written statements made earlier by various witnesses, was present when three officers gave sworn testimony about the case, and turned his files over to the criminal defense team.

“I would say I was probably able to provide them some insight into various facets of the case,” Kavanaugh said. “And they were extremely appreciative of my help.”

Stone, the police union attorney, agreed that Kavanaugh is well-versed on the 39th and Dalton case. “Bob Kavanaugh probably knows more about what happened there than any one person,” he said.

But the lawyer maintained that there was nothing improper about Kavanaugh providing him with any materials or information to help his client because it probably will be used later to help the other officers in the hearings.

Kavanaugh, nevertheless, said his role as member of the criminal defense team was obvious, and that it is a common practice among Los Angeles police officers.

“This kind of thing happens all the time,” he said. “It’s something that’s been accepted and done for a long time.”