Ex-LAPD Officer Acquitted in Felony Civil Rights Case

A former Los Angeles police officer was acquitted by a federal jury Tuesday of charges that he lied about why he stopped a motorist, who turned out to be an armed ex-felon.

Douglas Beard, 31, was accused of falsely testifying that he saw the motorist run a stop sign that did not exist.

He was indicted on charges of conspiring to violate civil rights law, a felony, and depriving a citizen of his rights under color of authority, a misdemeanor.

If convicted, he could have faced up to 11 years in prison.

“We’re very gratified about the jury’s decision,” defense lawyer Ira Salzman said at the end of the weeklong trial in Los Angeles federal court.

Beard, who was dismissed from the force over the incident, will now seek reinstatement.

“Doug is looking forward to getting back to doing the work he loves most,” Salzman said. Beard has worked as a bottled water delivery man since leaving the LAPD.

The disputed stop occurred on June 20, 1995, when Beard and his 77th Street Division training officer, Edward P. Ruiz, 36, pulled over a car driven by Thyjuan Taplin in South-Central Los Angeles.

After being ordered out of his car, Taplin ran away, tossing a gun as he fled. He was captured a short time later and booked for being a felon in possession of a gun.

Taplin’s lawyer argued during a preliminary hearing before a state court judge that his client could not have been pulled over for running a stop sign because there was no such sign there.

When the judge refused to dismiss the charge, Taplin negotiated a deal and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Salzman said Ruiz first remarked that Taplin had run the stop sign, and Beard believed him.

Ruiz, who is no longer on the police force, is serving a 10-month sentence in a halfway house after pleading guilty to falsely arresting another man on a weapons charge.

Federal prosecutors had planned to call Ruiz to dispute Beard’s story but were barred from doing so before the trial got underway.

A prosecution spokesman said U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian ruled that Ruiz could not testify because he had been exposed to Beard’s testimony before LAPD Internal Affairs investigators, which is not admissible in court.