U.S. Panel Probes Testimony on 1990 LAPD Shootings

Even as the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office this week closed a five-year investigation into the 1990 shooting deaths of three robbery suspects by an elite police unit, a federal grand jury continues to investigate whether some officers participated in a police cover-up and lied in court.

Police and legal sources close to the protracted and controversial case said five detectives involved in the Feb. 12, 1990, shootings in Sunland have been summoned to appear before the grand jury in recent weeks.

The inquiry is said to focus on whether some of the detectives, and perhaps other past and current LAPD officers, committed perjury when they testified during a 1992 civil rights case in U. S. District Court.

Assistant U. S. Atty. Michael J. Gennaco is said to be heading the investigation. Gennaco, a veteran civil rights prosecutor who transferred last year from Washington, D.C., had no comment and would neither confirm nor deny that an inquiry is under way.

Officials with the Police Protection League, which has provided legal advice for the subpoenaed officers, confirmed the investigation--and condemned it.

“It’s like a witch hunt,” said league President Dennis Zine. “They’ve had this thing on the burner for five years. We’re talking about crippling law enforcement.”

The inquiry centers on the actions of members of the LAPD’s Special Investigations Section, also known as the SIS, who opened fire after watching the men rob a McDonald’s restaurant in Sunland. A fourth suspect was wounded and is serving a 17-year prison sentence.

Venice civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman, who sued the city and LAPD on behalf of relatives of the slain suspects, hailed the federal investigation, which he described as “a stark contrast to the cover-up submitted” Wednesday by the district attorney’s office.

The district attorney declined to bring charges, finding insufficient evidence that the police officers acted in a criminal manner. Prosecutors also said it was doubtful a jury would find the shootings illegal or improper.

Earlier this year, federal prosecutors also cited insufficient evidence and declined to file charges following a lengthy investigation of whether SIS detectives had violated civil rights laws. The statute of limitations on such charges expired at midnight Feb. 12--the fifth anniversary of the shootings.

Now, sources said, federal prosecutors have shifted their focus to contradictions between the detectives’ statements during an internal investigation and their testimony during the 1992 civil case.

According to Yagman, more than 30 LAPD officers testified during the civil case, which resulted in a jury verdict awarding more than $44,000 in damages. The jury found the deaths wrongful--taking the rare step of insisting the officers pay from their own pockets--but also determined that the family members should not profit from the deaths of men who were committing crimes.

Police officials and the detectives always have maintained that the men pointed guns at them. Police learned after the shooting stopped that the men carried only pellet and air guns.

The case stirred controversy at the time because of the police tactics employed. The SIS detectives followed the suspects for weeks, watched them commit the robbery at the Sunland McDonald’s without intervening, then opened fire after ramming the fleeing suspects’ car.

According to the district attorney’s report released Wednesday, the four men were struck 34 times by shotgun blasts and semiautomatic pistol rounds fire by eight officers. Killed were Jesus Atango, 25, Herbert Burgos, 27, and Juan Bahena, 21. Alfredo Olivas was shot in the abdomen, but survived.

The district attorney’s report determined that some of the detectives fired more than a dozen shots, while others fired just a few. The report identified eight detectives as the shooters: Richard Spelman, Jerry Brooks, David Harrison, John Helms, Richard Zierenberg, Gary L. Strickland, Joe Callian and Warren Eggar.

Some of the detectives have testified before the grand jury, though their identities remain secret. They have been told they are not targets of the investigation, and they have testified after being offered immunity from prosecution, said Hank Hernandez, chief counsel for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the city’s police union.

“Our position is, they don’t testify,” Hernandez said. But, because the officers are not targets and are being granted immunity, they have little choice, he added.

“These cowboys from the civil rights division back East just come in here and I don’t know what they think they’re doing,” Hernandez said.

“They’ve already had their pound of LAPD flesh,” he complained, referring to the federal prosecution of several LAPD officers for the Rodney King beating.