LOS ANGELES : Deputy Accused of Perjury Withdraws Pleas
A suspended sheriff’s deputy withdrew his no contest plea to three counts of perjury Monday, just as he was about to be sentenced.
Glen Cozart, 33, had pleaded no contest to partial charges against him March 7, but Superior Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper insisted that he change his plea to guilty.
Although legally the two pleas are the same, Cozart refused, withdrawing his plea and putting the case back at “square one,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Steinfeld. Cooper had indicated earlier that she would grant probation to Cozart, a 10-year department veteran who faced a four-year prison term.
The former training officer at the Temple City sheriff’s station was indicted on 13 counts last year. The remaining charges against him were expected to be dismissed at Monday’s sentencing hearing. Instead, Cozart will return to court May 31.
Cozart’s attorney, Franklin Peters, could not be reached for comment.
Prosecutors allege that Cozart, who has been suspended without pay since September, 1991, planted evidence on two suspects to support his causes for their arrest, then lied under oath at another suspect’s preliminary hearing.
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