Probe Targets Deputies Who Guarded Actor

Amid continuing allegations of deputy misconduct in the Los Angeles County jail system, sheriff’s officials disclosed Tuesday that four deputies are being investigated for soliciting autographs, posing for photographs and dining at a movie studio commissary as guests of actor Robert Downey Jr., whom they were assigned to guard during his last excursion out of jail.

The allegations of misconduct have so upset Sheriff Sherman Block that he says he will fight any new court orders--including one issued Tuesday--allowing the actor out of jail on field trips, sources say.

The deputies currently under investigation were assigned to accompany Downey to Paramount Studios several weeks ago after Malibu Municipal Judge Lawrence Mira ordered the actor--who is serving jail time on drug charges--released for a day to work on a movie project. As the actor and deputies returned from the studio in two radio cars Feb. 17, one of the squad cars rear-ended the car transporting the actor, sheriff’s officials say.

The officials said they did not know about the traffic incident--which they say caused minimal damage to the cars--until Downey started complaining about neck pain, which he alleges stems from the collision.

In addition to the Feb. 17 trip to Paramount, Downey was allowed out to work at Warner Bros. on Jan. 23. And when Downey was punched by another inmate Feb. 13, he was allowed out of jail to be stitched up by his plastic surgeon, instead of being treated by the jail medical staff.

On Tuesday afternoon, attorney Ira Reiner, representing the actor, appeared in Malibu Municipal Court to request that Downey be released for two days to do more work, provided he covers the cost of the deputy escorts. A lawyer from the county counsel’s office appeared on behalf of the Sheriff’s Department to argue against the move.

“We feel that, basically, the court should treat Mr. Downey as any other inmate and not give him special favors because he can afford to pay for them,” said Assistant County Counsel James Owens.

Reiner said that when Downey was sentenced to six months in jail in December, the judge agreed to allow him to leave custody to work on preexisting projects. Reiner reminded Mira of the deal, prompting the judge to grant the request. The actor is set to be released again today and Friday to attend a taping at Paramount.

“We plan on appealing the judge’s order,” said Undersheriff Jerry Harper. “The reasoning is, with 21,000 inmates in custody, we can’t afford to be making special transportation arrangements.”

Looking into allegations of deputy misconduct, Sheriff’s Custody Chief Barry King said internal affairs investigators undertook their examination of the deputies’ conduct about a week and a half ago. “There have been a variety of allegations that have been brought forth,” King said. “We are pursuing those.”

Sheriff’s officials said the probe is centering on four deputies assigned to the department’s work release detail. According to sources, internal affairs is also investigating a supervisor to determine if he condoned the alleged misconduct. If the allegations are substantiated, discipline could range from formal counseling to a written reprimand to time off, King said.

It is not unusual for deputies to become star-struck when dealing with celebrity inmates. Deputies often had to be reminded not to solicit autographs from O.J. Simpson while he was in custody.

“These celebrities do draw special favors,” said one department source, who asked not to be identified. “I think there is a tendency not to view them as criminals. The public persona overrides common sense. It’s a form of fraternization.”

The latest allegations of deputy misconduct come at a time when the sheriff’s Custody Division is under fire on a variety of fronts. Last week, sheriff’s officials disclosed that at least six deputies are under criminal investigation for allegedly encouraging jail trusties to beat suspected child molesters. Sheriff’s officials said this week that a department administrator and an independent food contractor have been arrested on bribery charges involving millions of dollars in padded contracts for jail food.

Downey, who is scheduled to appear in a spate of movies over the next few months, is serving a sentence in the Men’s Central Jail for probation violations stemming from drug-related arrests. The actor was sentenced to 180 days for using drugs and alcohol. He was on probation for a 1996 drug conviction.

Downey pleaded no contest last September to cocaine possession, driving while intoxicated and other charges stemming from three arrests in the summer of 1996.

Another investigation is still underway to determine whether Downey had drug paraphernalia in the Twin Towers correctional facility.

He was being held in a segregated area there when the items were found, but it was in a common area--making it difficult to tell who left them there. Since then he has been moved to the Men’s Central Jail across the street, in the module where Simpson was housed.