6 MORE RAMPART CONVICTIONS OVERTURNED

LOS ANGELES - A Superior Court judge on Thursday overturned six more
convictions tainted by alleged misconduct by officers from the LAPD's
Rampart Division.

The court action brings to 46 the number of cases dismissed in the ongoing
corruption scandal, district attorney's officials said.

The latest round of reversals involved drug and weapons charges against
three adults and three people who were juveniles at the time they were
arrested by Rampart anti-gang officers from 1996 through 1997.

As with most of the other cases that have been overturned, the dismissals
were based in large part on the testimony of ex-officer-turned-informant
Rafael Perez.

Perez, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for stealing cocaine, is
cooperating with authorities and providing information on alleged police
crimes and misconduct.

Cases were overturned against:

* Charles Edward Harris, 42, who pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and
was sentenced to three years in prison in February 1998.

* William Florian Zepeda, 28, and Argelia Maritza Diaz, 25, who pleaded
guilty in 1998 to selling cocaine and were each sentenced to two years in
prison.

* Three other defendants, whose cases were handled during a closed court
hearing because they were juveniles, had various weapons and drug cases
dismissed.