Police Cleared of Tainting Evidence

Two Los Angeles police officers accused last summer by Chief Willie L. Williams of falsifying evidence in a murder case have been cleared of all but minor wrongdoing.

Dets. Andrew Teague and Charles Markel, accused of forging suspects’ signatures and then covering it up, were exonerated Monday of serious misconduct by an internal police review board. The panel found the pair guilty only of the infraction of failing to prepare properly for court.

The officers on Tuesday denounced Williams for an unfair “rush to judgment.”

“He’s the top police officer in the city of Los Angeles, and his handling of this was disgraceful,” Markel said. “There’s no other word for it.”

Williams had accused the two veteran detectives Sept. 1, at a press conference held just days after release of the taped comments of former LAPD Det. Mark Fuhrman, a central figure in the O.J. Simpson murder trial who boasted of police brutality and of framing innocent suspects.

The chief’s unusual public announcement marked a department effort to restore public confidence and show a commitment to rooting out problem officers. It made newspaper headlines and TV newscasts around the globe.

Teague and Markel asserted Tuesday that Williams seemed more interested at the time in scoring public relations points than in the truth.

Teague said he was “extremely disappointed” that Williams “would go before the world’s press and make statements like he did without knowing the facts of the case.”

He added: “A lot of this had to do with politics. And with the O.J. trial.”

Williams declined Tuesday to comment. A department spokesman said the chief wanted to review the transcripts before commenting.

Hank Hernandez, general counsel of the Police Protective League said Tuesday that the union was considering filing a lawsuit against the chief alleging damage to the officers’ reputations.

The complicated case against Teague and Markel stems from the Nov. 29, 1994, killing of Pablo Trujillo Jr. in an Eastside drive-by shooting.

Teague--at the time a detective in training--and Markel were assigned to investigate. Both were 18-year LAPD veterans based at the Hollenbeck station; Teague has since been transferred to Van Nuys.

Last May 2, Teague was the sole witness for the prosecution at the preliminary hearing of Girard Moody and Kevin Adams, the two men charged with murder in Trujillo’s killing.

On cross-examination, Teague was asked about two photocopied “identification reports.” One appeared to show Moody’s signature; another appeared to have been signed by Adams.

Teague testified that he was present when each man signed and that he had the original reports.

The ID reports were actually bogus, and contained statements purportedly identifying a third man in the car, Racjon Floyd, as the shooter.

Teague later told prosecutors he intended to use the statements as a “ruse” to pressure Floyd to identify the real gunman. Such a ruse is legal, according to prosecutors.

After being asked in June by a defense investigator for the original reports, Teague notified prosecutors that the originals did not exist.

Instead, he said, he had obtained the signatures elsewhere, then photocopied them onto the reports.

Though Teague was within bounds to dummy up the reports, it was not proper to then testify falsely that he had been present for the signatures and that he had the originals, according to prosecutors.

Asked later by prosecutors to explain, Teague said he had been very busy, had not been properly prepared to testify in court and had forgotten he had used the “ruse.”

At his news conference Sept. 1, Williams said Teague and Markel’s actions had forced prosecutors to drop charges against Moody and Adams. Moody remained in custody on separate charges; Adams was set free and is now wanted in a separate murder case, authorities said.

Williams also said at the news conference that Markel upheld the notorious “code of silence” by not coming forward after Teague’s testimony. Teague, as several press accounts would note, was one of the 44 so-called “problem officers” identified in the landmark 1991 Christopher Commission report.

“It’s embarrassing,” Williams said at the news conference. “It’s a shame, and it’s unfortunate.”

That same day, Williams ordered Teague and Markel sent home, each suspended with pay to await the outcome of separate investigations by police and the district attorney’s office.

At the time prosecutors said they would review other cases involving Teague and Markel. They said Tuesday that they were unaware of any other tainted cases.

The chief’s news conference, Markel said, suddenly turned him into a “living disgrace.”

“I had to explain to my children, who always felt I was a good guy doing something for society, why suddenly I was accused of criminal activity.”

He said his 13-year-old son “wanted to know whether I was going to go to prison.” His 11-year-old daughter “wanted to know, if I went to prison, would I ever come back?”

On Sept. 18, interviewed by LAPD Internal Affairs investigators, both Teague and Markel denied any intent to mislead either a judge or jurors.

On Nov. 22, prosecutors announced that Teague would not face criminal perjury charges. A jury was likely to find he simply made a mistake, Deputy Dist. Atty. Randy Baron said. Perjury charges against Markel were not considered because he did not testify May 2.

At theLAPD Board of Rights hearing held Monday, Teague faced charges of making false statements under oath and of failing to prepare for testimony.

On the first count, the board found him not guilty. Teague “made a mistake while under oath,” an error that “resulted in a series of actions and perhaps overreactions,” said Capt. Robert Hansohn, who chaired the hearing. On the second count, Teague was found guilty.

Markel similarly faced a charge of failing to prepare for testimony, and was found guilty. He also was charged with failing to “take appropriate action when [he] became aware of misconduct,” but cleared--because Teague was found not guilty of the alleged misconduct.

The board recommended that Teague, 42, receive a one-day suspension and Markel, 43, an official reprimand. That recommendation now goes to Williams.

In making the recommendation, Hansohn noted Teague’s “colorful complaint history,” which includes 18 citizen complaints in 18 years. But he stressed that Teague’s record had been clean since 1988, that he had been promoted to detective and that his personnel file included several “outstanding” ratings and “lots of commendations.”

Teague said Tuesday that Williams ought to hold a news conference and apologize.

“The chief saw fit to hold a worldwide press conference and destroy my life,” Teague said Tuesday. “Now the facts are out, and it’s obvious he made a mistake.

“It would be worldwide news: ‘Excuse me, people, I made a mistake here. These two detectives didn’t do what I mistakenly said they did.’ ” He paused a moment, then added: “Unfortunately, I really don’t see that happening.”