Slain Officer’s Family Hires Cochran for Probe

The family of the off-duty LAPD officer who was shot and killed by an undercover police detective during a traffic dispute Tuesday has hired attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. to look into the incident.

Attorney Carl E. Douglas, an associate of Cochran, said Friday that the family of Officer Kevin L. Gaines wants to make sure all the facts of the shooting are revealed and has requested that the matter be investigated by officials independent of the LAPD.

“Based on what little we know, we are troubled by this tragedy and we are hopeful that the Los Angeles Police Department will refer the investigation to the district attorney’s office so an independent investigation can be conducted,” he said.

“We’re nowhere near that decision right now,” said LAPD Lt. Pat Conmay, who is overseeing the investigation. “We haven’t found anything that leads us in that [criminal] direction now.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Cosper, who works in the special investigations section that handles police shootings, said the matter would be reviewed by the district’s attorney’s office at the discretion of the LAPD.

Prosecutors would review the department’s investigation of the shooting for either of two reasons: to determine whether criminal charges should be filed or to add an independent look at the internal inquiry into the incident, Cosper said.

Asked if police are likely to submit the case for review, he said: “In this case, I imagine they would.”

According to police, Det. Frank J. Lyga shot the 31-year-old Gaines after a verbal confrontation during which Gaines pointed a handgun at the detective. Police sources said the incident started with a simple stare between Lyga and Gaines as the two drove their vehicles along Cahuenga Boulevard, escalated into a verbal dispute with Gaines making threats to harm Lyga, and ended with Lyga shooting Gaines because he feared for his life.

Because Lyga was in undercover clothing and Gaines was off duty, neither one realized he was dealing with a fellow officer, police said.

LAPD officials Friday issued a request that witnesses to Tuesday’s confrontation in Studio City contact investigators.

“We’ve talked to people--we’re just trying to make sure there isn’t someone out there that we’ve missed,” Conmay said.

As part of the review of the shooting, investigators are looking into the backgrounds of both officers to determine whether either one was a problem policeman, sources said. Police have declined to discuss the officers’ backgrounds, citing personnel confidentiality rules.

Documents and interviews, however, show that both officers had been the focus of complaints.

Gaines, who has been described as a likable man and officer by some and as a hothead by others, was the subject of an internal investigation at the time of his death. The probe centered on an Aug. 16 encounter Gaines had with officers from the North Hollywood station.

According to a claim Gaines filed, the officers who had responded to a shooting call at a house improperly pushed and handcuffed him as they searched the residence. No evidence of a shooting was found.

Police sources said the responding officers claimed that Gaines was belligerent and uncontrollable and bumped other officers. The incident was being investigated by the department, according to sources, who added that Gaines had had previous misconduct complaints against him within the department.

Family members and members of the Oscar Joel Bryant Assn., a black police officers group, have questioned if race was an issue in Tuesday’s shooting. Gaines was black; Lyga is white. While co-workers of Lyga, 40, have described him as a good and “solid” officer, he too had been the focus of complaints.

According to Police Watch--a community watchdog group--two citizens lodged complaints against Lyga in 1991.

In the first complaint taken by Police Watch, a black man said he was crossing a street when he was confronted by police officers. He said that when he was handcuffed and put in a patrol car, Lyga slapped him and knocked his head against the car window. When he got to the police station, the man said, he was hogtied. He was accused of battery on a police officer. Police Watch filed the complaint in July 1991.

In the second complaint, a Latino man said he was handcuffed tightly by Lyga--causing cuts and bruises on his wrists--and was chained to a bench for six hours after Lyga and other officers were summoned to a house in connection with a disturbance. The man was not involved in the disturbance, he was not arrested and no charges were made against him, according to the Police Watch complaint.

Also, in August 1990, a UCLA student sued Lyga for breaking his nose at a Century City apartment. The student settled the suit for about $40,000, documents show.

The student’s lawyer, Howard R. Price, said Lyga was called to the apartment by a neighbor complaining of loud music, but that when the detective arrived, the apartment was quiet. Still, Price said, Lyga brought the student into the hall and, apparently thinking he was taking a karate stance, brought him to the ground, breaking his nose.

The Times could not reach Lyga for comment Friday.

Gaines’ funeral is Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Crenshaw Christian Center, 7901 S. Vermont Ave., police said, adding that it will not be an LAPD “full dress” ceremony because Gaines died off duty. Chief Willie L. Williams will not attend because the funeral conflicts with a Police Commission meeting, said LAPD spokesman Lt. Anthony Alba.