Judge Refuses to Send Perez to State Prison

Former Los Angeles Police Officer Rafael Perez, who recently stopped cooperating with prosecutors investigating the Rampart police corruption case, should not be moved from a jail to a state prison to finish his sentence for stealing cocaine, a Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

Judge Robert Perry said he was concerned about Perez’s safety. Moving Perez from the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood to a state prison because he quit speaking with Los Angeles prosecutors would be inappropriate, the judge said.

“My perception is, Mr. Perez is . . . in likely danger from all kinds of interests,” the judge said. “I am most comfortable leaving him where he is.”

Perez has been a key figure in the ongoing investigation of allegations that police officers routinely framed and abused suspects in the LAPD’s Rampart Division.

Perry also said Perez, who must serve five more months of a five-year sentence for stealing eight pounds of cocaine from a police evidence room, might resume talking with prosecutors at some point.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Rosenthal had asked that Perez go from the Lynwood facility to a state prison because he quit speaking with prosecutors after he was told that an immunity deal he signed does not protect him from federal prosecution.

Perez did not attend the short hearing. His attorney, Kevin McKesson, acknowledged at the hearing that he had advised his client to stop talking to investigators because of the threat of federal prosecution.

In recent weeks, McKesson has not made him available to testify at disciplinary hearings for other officers or to be interviewed further by law enforcement authorities.

After the hearing, McKesson said he was pleased with the judge’s decision but declined to comment further.

What effect Perez’s refusal to cooperate will have on a pending attempted murder case against LAPD Officer Nino Durden was unclear. Durden, Perez’s former partner, is accused of shooting a suspect and then framing him for attempted murder. The man, Javier Ovando, was convicted but later was freed from prison and received a $15-million settlement from the city of Los Angeles. Durden is expected to go on trial later this year. Durden faces the most serious charge to arise out of the ongoing Rampart investigation.

Perez was arrested in August 1998 on charges that he stole cocaine from the police evidence room. Shortly after his arrest, he claimed he had witnessed severe corruption at the LAPD and promised to help prosecutors investigate it in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Perez’s statements led to the dismantling of the Police Department’s anti-gang units called CRASH, or Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums. His statements resulted in the suspension of dozens of officers, the overturning of cases and the arrest of five officers.

The LAPD is also under a federal consent decree that mandates sweeping reforms and calls for the appointment of an outside monitor to ensure that the changes are made. The City Council approved the decree in November under pressure from the Justice Department, which threatened to file a lawsuit alleging the LAPD engaged in a “pattern or practice” of civil rights violations.