Leak May Hurt Police Panel, Leader Fears

The entire Los Angeles Police Commission may have been damaged by the furor surrounding Commissioner Melanie Lomax’s release of confidential documents to lawyers for a group trying to remove Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, the panel’s president said Thursday.

“Based on what has happened, I am very concerned about whether the credibility of the entire commission has been damaged by this entire incident,” said Police Commission President Dan Garcia.

Garcia said it was “inappropriate” for him to comment on whether Lomax acted improperly or should step down from the commission, as lawyers for Gates and some City Council members have demanded. But he said, “As far as I’m concerned, no one was authorized to release a single document.”

The controversy, an outgrowth of the commission’s efforts to temporarily remove Gates after the Rodney G. King beating, erupted Wednesday when an attorney for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference told a Superior Court judge that Lomax had given him copies of confidential city attorney memos.

The memos outlined the procedures for disciplining the chief or placing him on leave. The commission placed Gates on leave last month, but the action was reversed by the City Council.

Now, the commission, civil rights groups and the City Council are locked in a legal battle over who controls the department.

SCLC attorney Peter Haviland had introduced the documents into court as evidence that the commissioners relied on advice of the city attorney when placing Gates on leave. But under questioning Wednesday, Haviland told Judge Ronald Sohigian that Lomax gave him the memos. Attorneys for Gates immediately accused Lomax of unethical and possibly illegal conduct and demanded that she be removed from the commission.

At least three City Council members--John Ferraro, Zev Yaroslavsky and Hal Bernson--also called on Mayor Tom Bradley to remove Lomax.

Lomax, a civil rights lawyer, remained unavailable for comment Thursday, but the commission’s private attorney, Hillel Chodos, denied that she had done anything illegal or improper. He confirmed that Lomax had given the memos to Haviland, but said she was free to do so. He said that restrictions on such disclosures apply to lawyers, not clients, and Lomax was a client of the city attorney.

Ferraro and other Lomax critics charged that she lied when she publicly denied leaking the memos. That “gives an indication of her integrity,” Ferraro said.

In an interview last week, KNBC-TV political editor Linda Douglas asked Lomax if she had given the memos to civil rights intervenors in the case or to Haviland.

“No,” Lomax said. “And I think the charge that I have, I’d like to see the evidence of it.”

Chodos said Thursday that he understood Lomax’s denial referred to a related letter she supposedly had written to Haviland.

Chodos and a civil rights leader who is a party to the case said pro-Gates forces are trying to discredit Lomax because she has been outspoken in the Gates case.

“It is a clear attempt at intimidating the person who is perceived as being the most vocal in bringing about accountability in the Los Angeles Police Department, starting at the top,” said SCLC Executive Director Mark Ridley-Thomas, one of the parties to the suit.

But Ferraro said Lomax must go. “You are leaking confidential information to someone who is (a party opposing the city) in a lawsuit,” he said.

He said Lomax may have violated a provision of the city’s new ethics code, prohibiting release of certain confidential information.

Benjamin Bycel, executive director of the Ethics Commission, said his agency had received no complaint regarding Lomax and it was not clear if the conflict of interest law applied in such a case. But he said the commission would review any complaint filed.

Assistant City Atty. Fred Merkin, representing the city in Gates case, said he was unaware of any law that Lomax may have violated.

Although Chodos said Lomax was not considering resigning, at least one source close to the Police Commission and Mayor Tom Bradley said discussions were going on as to how to deal with Lomax.

“It would obviously be better if she did resign,” said one source close to the commission and the mayor’s office. “Otherwise it will continue to haunt and nag the commission.”

The mayor’s office declined to comment on the matter Thursday.

Gates was not among those calling Lomax’s removal Thursday. “I’m not going to call on anybody to resign,” he said.