Perez Is a Free Man After Almost Three Years

After nearly three years behind bars, disgraced former Los Angeles Police Officer Rafael Perez was discharged from the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi on Tuesday morning and placed on parole, authorities said.

The terms of Perez’s parole, as well as where he will live, were not disclosed by prison officials. A judge said Monday that Perez could be allowed to live out of state while under parole because of concerns about his safety.

On Perez’s behalf, his lawyer declined requests for interviews with the former officer, who he said hoped merely to spend time out of the public eye.

“It’s no secret that Mr. Perez’s life could well be in danger if certain parties or individuals know where he is, so we keep that secret,” said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections.

Heimerich noted, however, that the information clampdown in Perez’s case is not unique. He said prison officials rarely divulge information about former inmates once they have been paroled.

“People gain a few more rights than they had as inmates, and one of those is the right to privacy,” Heimerich said.

Perez, the key informant in the LAPD’s corruption probe, was allowed to walk out of prison as a result of a ruling Monday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry.

Over the protests of prosecutors, Perry ruled that Perez had fulfilled the conditions of his plea bargain and had served enough of his five-year sentence for stealing cocaine from LAPD evidence facilities.

Prosecutors objected, saying that Perez was not entitled to work-time credits that helped shave time off his sentence because he was housed in a county facility instead of a state prison.

Perry agreed that prosecutors were correct in their reading of the rules, but he said that when Perez was originally sentenced, all the parties involved in the case incorrectly assumed that Perez would receive those credits while he stayed in county jail to continue helping the LAPD corruption probe. He said Perez should not have to suffer for the misinterpretation of the prison rules by the prosecution, the defense and the judge.

Prosecutors said Monday that they will appeal Perry’s ruling on the grounds that he exceeded his authority. District attorney officials late Monday also asked an appellate court to halt Perez’s release pending their appeal, but the request was denied. They declined to further comment on their plans Tuesday.

Perez’s attorney, Winston Kevin McKesson, praised Perry’s decision to set Perez free.

“I feel honored to be part of a the justice system that includes Judge Robert Perry,” McKesson said. “He is one of the very, very few people throughout this whole process who has kept his eye on justice as opposed to what is politically correct.”

As for Perez, his future remained uncertain. McKesson said his client is a changed man who hopes to spend time reuniting with his family and doing “good deeds” in the community.

If the district attorney is successful in an appeal, it is possible that Perez may have to spend more time in custody. Meanwhile, federal authorities are still considering whether to try to indict Perez on the corruption-related offenses that he has admitted to in the course of his interviews with state prosecutors and police.