LOS ANGELES : Judge Refuses to Lower Bail for Ex-Informant

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge refused Thursday to lower the $150,000 bail set for former jailhouse informant Leslie Vernon White, a major figure in a scandal involving Los Angeles County informants who lied under oath.

White, indicted this month for perjury during a 1987 trial, “is being punished for blowing the whistle,” said his attorney, Terrence Bennett. He attempted to show that White was not a risk to flee by calling to the stand former prosecutors who dealt with White as an informant.

Curt Livesay, a former Los Angeles assistant district attorney, testified that he had ordered deputies to obtain White’s release from jail and that White “returned on each occasion he promised to do so.” But Judge Cecil Mills said perjury was “one of the most serious offenses” and that the bail set is appropriate.