Durden Waives Hearing on Rampart Charges
Suspended Los Angeles Police Officer Nino Durden will take his case directly to trial.
Durden, facing the most serious charges in the Rampart corruption scandal, including attempted murder, appeared briefly on Wednesday before a Superior Court judge to waive his right to a preliminary hearing.
Durden, who was accompanied by his attorney and about a dozen friends and family members, wore a gray suit and spoke softly when asked whether he wanted to forgo the hearing.
The hearing would have required prosecutors to prove to a judge they have enough evidence to go to trial.
Durden, who will appear again in court on Nov. 8 for an arraignment, is charged with attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and filing a false police report. He was arrested in July after his former partner, Rafael Perez, told investigators that he and Durden shot a man, Javier Ovando, several times, then planted a gun on Ovando and falsely testified that he had attacked them.
Ovando was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He has been freed and is suing the city.
Four other LAPD officers are currently on trial for other charges stemming from the corruption probe.
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