Ex-Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Forgery

A retired Los Angeles police detective has pleaded not guilty to six felony counts stemming from allegations that he forged the names of two judges on warrants.

Raymond L. Doyle, a 25-year LAPD veteran, entered the pleas Friday in Los Angeles Municipal Court after an indictment was unsealed. He was released on his own recognizance pending an Oct. 31 pretrial hearing.

Doyle, who worked at the Hollenbeck Division on the Eastside, allegedly committed the forgeries in 1992 and 1993. Confronted in 1993 by LAPD investigators with the allegation of misconduct, he retired rather than face a department investigation or job-related discipline.

The indictment is the latest in a series of allegations in recent weeks that current or former detectives have falsified evidence.

On Sept. 1, Police Chief Willie L. Williams announced that two detectives, Andrew A. Teague and Charles Markel, had been suspended for falsifying evidence in a homicide case, forcing prosecutors to drop murder charges against two men and jeopardizing hundreds of other cases the two detectives investigated.

In taped comments first played in August in Los Angeles Superior Court and since replayed throughout the world, former LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman boasted of fabricating evidence, beating suspects and singling out minorities for mistreatment.

LAPD officers said Friday that the Doyle case shows the department takes seriously its responsibility to uncover wrongdoing.

“The Police Department does what we’re supposed to do and what we’re expected to do,” said Capt. Bruce Hagerty, the current Hollenbeck Division commander. “When we uncover or discover misconduct by police officers, we investigate it, expose it and we prosecute it.”

LAPD investigators discovered the apparent forgeries during a routine audit, sources said. Apparently, Doyle had probable cause to obtain the warrants he wanted, according to sources. But instead of waiting for a judge’s signature, he allegedly signed them himself.

Doyle allegedly forged the name of one judge once and another judge three times, sources said Friday, adding that Doyle also apparently filled out two police reports based on the bogus warrants.

The indictment adds few details. It alleges four counts of forgery, the first in October, 1992, and the last in July, 1993. It also alleges that Doyle filed a false police report in October, 1992, and in January, 1993.

Defense attorney Mitchell Egers declined to comment on the charges. But he did say: “My client has had an exemplary career with the Police Department. He is well liked and respected by all those who have met him.”