Ex-Officers Sentenced for Beating

Two former Los Angeles police officers who assaulted a homeless man and then let two colleagues take the blame for the crime received one-year sentences Wednesday from a judge who recommended that they be placed in a work furlough program instead of jail.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler called the actions of Christopher Coppock and David Cochrane “felony stupid” and their crime “serious.”

But Fidler also said he would not object if the ex-officers were allowed to serve their sentences at their homes under electronic monitoring.

A spokesman for the county Probation Department, which screens candidates for work furlough and electronic monitoring, said people convicted of violent crimes normally do not qualify.

Fidler also ordered each officer to pay the victim, Delton Bowen, $5,000, and to serve five years’ probation, which is two years longer than the normal probationary period for the offense.

Cochrane, 36, and Coppock, 30, were convicted of terrorizing Bowen on Oct. 23, 1997, by forcing the homeless man into their squad car and taking him to a tunnel leading to the Los Angeles River, throwing him on the ground and threatening him with a handgun. Both were indicted on charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment and assault under color of authority.

The sentencing Wednesday came after the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kraig St. Pierre, apologized to the judge and publicly retracted comments he made in a Times story about the case in August. In that story, St. Pierre said Fidler had indicated “this is not a state prison case,” and had “circumscribed our role” in determining the sentence.

Fidler accepted St. Pierre’s apology. He then offered to withdraw from the case, but St. Pierre and the officers’ attorneys said they wanted him to continue.

Under the deal, Coppock and Cochrane pleaded no contest to assault. Prosecutors agreed to a sentence of no more than a year in jail, and dismissed the kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. Without the plea arrangement, Cochrane could have faced up to 18 years in prison and Coppock a maximum of nine years, if convicted.

Bowen had been taken into custody for causing a disturbance by other officers from West Los Angeles, who took him to a homeless shelter.

Later, Cochrane and Coppock drove to the shelter with Officer Sandra Salazar, a rookie who had just completed her probationary period, riding with them. St. Pierre said Bowen, who was intoxicated, made derogatory comments to Cochrane and Coppock and an argument ensued, ending when the officers put him in their car and drove him to the tunnel, where the assault occurred.

The two officers who took Bowen to the homeless shelter were later accused of the assault. They were exonerated at a police disciplinary hearing, where Salazar testified on their behalf. Coppock later resigned and Cochrane was fired. St. Pierre said Cochrane and Coppock “lied through their teeth” at the disciplinary hearing when they testified under oath against the other officers.

St. Pierre argued Wednesday for the maximum possible sentence under the plea agreement, contending that the defendants had terrorized Bowen, failed to show contrition for their actions and conspired to let the two West Los Angeles officers take the blame.

“They picked on the least among us, the poorest of the poor,” he said. “Imagine the terror of that man and how he must have felt being treated the way he was.”

St. Pierre also argued that the misdeed forced the district attorney’s office to drop criminal charges in 11 cases in which Cochrane and Coppock were the principal witnesses, because their credibility was tainted.

At one point, St. Pierre urged Fidler not to feel bound by the one-year maximum sentence under the plea bargain, contending that Coppock and Cochrane had refused to take responsibility for their acts. Judges have the authority to reject the terms of plea agreements. St. Pierre did not ask for a specific prison sentence.

Joel Levine, Cochrane’s lawyer, and Robert Rico, who represents Coppock, argued that their clients’ no-contest pleas showed they have accepted responsibility. The attorneys said their clients had suffered more than Bowen, because their careers as police officers are over.

Levine, Rico and St. Pierre said in interviews later that they were pleased with Fidler’s decision.

The judge allowed both defendants to remain free on their own recognizance and ordered them to return to court Dec. 13, when he will hear from probation or Sheriff’s Department officials on whether the officers will be jailed, placed on work furlough or be electronically monitored.