JUDGE DISMISSES 10 MORE CASES; RELEASES PRISONER WHO SERVED THREE YEARS LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In the latest aftershock from a scandal that has shaken Los Angeles, a judge Tuesday dismissed 10 drug and weapons convictions because they were tainted by police corruption. That brought to 22 the number of cases thrown out because of police misconduct. The scandal is "the most important case I have seen this office handle in my 31 years here. It goes to the heart of the criminal justice system," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, who sought the dismissals. Garcetti said his office probably will seek reversal of another two to three dozen cases contaminated by false testimony and the planting of evidence. Paul Thompson, 34, had his conviction overturned and was ordered immediately freed from prison. He has served half of a six-year sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Disgraced former LAPD officer Rafael Perez has admitted he testified falsely during Thompson's trial. Thompson plans to sue but remains fearful of police, said his attorney, Carlos Spiga. "He's afraid the police will try to dirty him up and compromise any civil action," Spiga told reporters. Also reversed was the drug conviction of Octavio Davalos. The 41-year-old upholstery worker served 91 days and received three years of probation after pleading guilty to possessing and selling cocaine and marijuana. Perez has said he falsified the police report. "I was never guilty of nothing," Davalos told reporters. He said he agreed to a plea bargain because he was threatened with eight years in prison. "I have to support my family," he said. Davalos' lawyer told Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler his client would like to recover expenses in connection with the case. Fidler said a civil lawyer would surely be able to advise him. "Since you are the first person present on this matter, the court's apologies," the judge told Davalos. One man who had a drug charged dismissed will face continued legal problems. Juan Carlos Suares, 24, is in custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, facing possible deportation. Perez said he and his former partner, Nino Durden, planted rock cocaine on Suares. Most of the cases reversed Tuesday involved defendants who pleaded guilty or no contest in return for probation or short prison sentences. Perez admitted that he and his former partner, Nino Durden, planted evidence in the cases or lied in police reports. The scandal, the worst for LAPD in decades, has centered on an anti-gang unit in the LAPD's Rampart Division. Twenty officers have either resigned or been suspended. Perez, a former Rampart anti-gang officer, pleaded guilty to stealing evidence cocaine from a police locker. He has been cooperating with the corruption probe in an attempt to lighten his sentence. Durden has not been charged in the scandal, but Garcetti said he is under investigation. Others against whom charges were dismissed were Hugo Madrid, 26, who pleaded guilty to a firearms charge; Manuel Guardado, 26, who pleaded guilty to a drug charge; Blanca Sahagun 31, and Carlos Antononio Carranza, 27, who pleaded no contest to drug charges; Margo Leticia Lopez, 56, who pleaded guilty to a drug charge and her son, Luis Manuel Flores, 26, who pleaded guilty to a weapons charge; and Jose Armando Lara, 24, who pleaded guilty to a firearms charge. Another defendant, Juan Torrecillas, was brought into court in handcuffs at the end of the hearing. Prosecutors said his jailing for probation violations was currently under investigation in connection with the scandal. "Certainly we're going to release him immediately," Fidler said, but he ordered a later hearing to determine if his conviction should be dismissed.
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