Suspended L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy Exonerated of Rape Charges

A suspended Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was exonerated of rape charges Thursday in a case in which the county has already settled with the alleged victim for $100,000 in damages.

Prosecutors asked that charges against Harris Scott Mintz be dropped after friends of the accuser--referred to in court as Jane Doe--said the woman was a drug and alcohol abuser who had admitted lying about the rape.

Mintz, 42, wept and covered his head with his hands after Superior Court Judge Norm Shapiro dismissed the remaining two charges.

“I’m feeling a little bit numb,” Mintz said afterward. Pausing, he added: “I’m real good. Elated.”

The woman’s attorney, Paul Norris, did not return calls seeking comment.

The case has been an embarrassment for police and prosecutors. The district attorney’s office filed six sexual assault charges against Mintz relating to two incidents. Four of the charges, filed by Mintz’s estranged wife, were dropped in February after she recanted. With the action Thursday, all charges have now been dropped.

“We were presented with new evidence on this case. Based on this, we could not proceed,” said district attorney’s spokeswoman Elka Worner.

A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, which placed Mintz on unpaid leave in July 1996, said he remains the subject of an ongoing “personnel investigation.” The spokesman did not elaborate.

Mintz’s lawyer, James E. Blatt, said the case might have been avoided had the sheriff’s Internal Criminal Investigation Bureau and district attorney’s investigators been more thorough. The key witness Thursday was located by investigators for the defense.

“There was a certain amount of luck in finding witnesses, because the prosecution certainly wouldn’t have,” Blatt said. “An innocent man could have gone to jail for a long time.”

The case against Mintz started last year after the woman told authorities that the deputy raped her at her Calabasas home Dec. 22, 1995.

After an 11-month internal affairs investigation, Mintz was arrested in November at the Malibu-Lost Hills sheriff’s station. The 10-year department veteran spent five months in jail awaiting trial.

Also in November, attorneys for the county agreed to pay the Calabasas woman $100,000 to settle a civil claim she filed in June. The Sheriff’s Department agreed to the settlement.

Blatt and co-counsel Darren T. Kavinoky questioned whether the county had conducted a thorough investigation before agreeing to the settlement.

Said Bill Pellman, a senior assistant county counsel: “It seemed like it was a good settlement at the time based on the information provided to us. Depending on the testimony, the evidence and the witnesses, it could have been a very large settlement” if it went before a jury.

Mintz said Thursday that he had reconciled with his wife and will decide later whether he would seek his old job at the Sheriff’s Department. “Thank God it’s finally over,” he said.