Council Seeks Probe of Police in Case of Wrongly Convicted Men : Law enforcement: It also wants a review of Chief Gates’ comments that the pair, who were released from prison, should have remained behind bars.

Less than a week after a Superior Court judge freed two men she determined had been wrongly convicted of murder, the Los Angeles City Council called Tuesday for a grand jury investigation of the conduct of officers who withheld evidence that might have cleared the pair.

The council also asked the Police Commission to “review the appropriateness” of recent statements by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, who has maintained that Clarence Chance and Benny Powell should have remained behind bars.

Gates said last week: “We believe Benny Powell and Clarence Chance went to jail for murder . . . and that they served the proper sentence, if not a shorter one, than they should have.”

The council’s 14-0 vote came after more than two hours of heated discussion behind closed doors. The action came in response to harsh criticism levied at the Los Angeles Police Department by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, who freed Chance and Powell last Wednesday during an emotional hearing.

From the bench, Cooper apologized to the two men, saying she had reviewed reams of evidence in their case and concluded that the conduct of the investigating officers was reprehensible. She also called for the LAPD’s internal affairs unit to look into the “sordid record” of the case.

In calling for the grand jury and Police Commission investigations, Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said he wanted to “remove the stench of irregularities (and) improprieties” from the city and its police force. “The council has a responsibility not to allow this issue to just blow away,” he said.

Chance, along with his lawyer, attended the public portion of Tuesday’s hearing. Although he did not address the council, he said afterward that a grand jury probe would make little difference to him. Instead, he called upon the public and elected officials to concentrate on the plight of others who, he said, are in prison for crimes they did not commit.

“Get involved with this to make the system work appropriately,” Chance said. “Don’t just hold talk shows and do nothing about it.”

LAPD officials, meanwhile, said they welcomed an independent investigation. “We have nothing to hide,” said Assistant Chief Robert Vernon, who attended Tuesday’s closed session.

Gates on Tuesday reiterated his contention that the LAPD had done nothing wrong, although he acknowledged that officers had failed to comply with a court order to turn over certain evidence. But, he said, there is “absolutely no evidence it was intentionally withheld.”

The chief also defended his earlier remarks about Chance and Powell, and added that he has an obligation to stand up for his officers.

Of the five officers most closely involved in the original investigation of Chance and Powell, four are now retired. The fifth, Lt. William Hall, now heads the LAPD unit that investigates officer-involved-shootings.

Defense lawyers have alleged that Hall and his former partner, Richard Knott, coerced witnesses into giving false testimony against Chance and Powell. Several witnesses recently recanted their earlier testimony, saying that they lied under pressure from Hall and Knott, who were the primary investigators on the case.

The defense attorneys have also alleged that another retired officer, Rudy Ticer, withheld evidence that a jailhouse informant who testified against Powell had flunked two lie detector tests and had implicated two others in the 1973 killing of Sheriff’s Deputy David Andrews.

Records show that Ticer had been interviewing the informant, Lawrence Wilson, in connection with another murder case. Ticer then turned the informant over to Hall, who interviewed him about Chance and Powell.

Hall has said he did not know about the polygraph exams or Wilson’s implication of others. Ticer could not be reached for comment.

Times staff writer Rich Connell contributed to this story.