JUDGE REFUSES TO SEND PEREZ TO STATE PRISON

Courts: Prosecutors had asked the jurist to move the former LAPD officer,
who stopped cooperating with the D.A., out of a local jail.

Former Los Angeles Police Officer Rafael Perez, who recently stopped
cooperating with prosecutors investigating the Rampart police corruption
case, should not be moved from a jail to a state prison to finish his
sentence for stealing cocaine, a Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

Judge Robert Perry said he was concerned about Perez's safety. Moving Perez
from the Century Regional

Detention Facility in Lynwood to a state prison because he quit speaking
with Los Angeles prosecutors would be inappropriate, the judge said.

"My perception is, Mr. Perez is . . . in likely danger from all kinds of
interests," the judge said. "I am most comfortable leaving him where he is."

Perez has been a key figure in the ongoing investigation of allegations that
police officers routinely framed and abused suspects in the LAPD's Rampart
Division.

Perry also said Perez, who must serve five more months of a five-year
sentence for stealing eight pounds of cocaine from a police evidence room,
might resume talking with prosecutors at some point.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Rosenthal had asked that Perez go from the
Lynwood facility to a state prison because he quit speaking with prosecutors
after he was told that an immunity deal he signed does not protect him from
federal prosecution.

Perez did not attend the short hearing. His attorney, Kevin McKesson,
acknowledged at the hearing that he had advised his client to stop talking
to investigators because of the threat of federal prosecution.

In recent weeks, McKesson has not made him available to testify at
disciplinary hearings for other officers or to be interviewed further by law
enforcement authorities.

After the hearing, McKesson said he was pleased with the judge's decision
but declined to comment further.

What effect Perez's refusal to cooperate will have on a pending attempted
murder case against LAPD Officer Nino Durden was unclear. Durden, Perez's
former partner, is accused of shooting a suspect and then framing him for
attempted murder. The man, Javier Ovando, was convicted but later was freed
from prison and received a $15-million settlement from the city of Los
Angeles. Durden is expected to go on trial later this year. Durden faces the
most serious charge to arise out of the ongoing Rampart investigation.

Perez was arrested in August 1998 on charges that he stole cocaine from the
police evidence room. Shortly after his arrest, he claimed he had witnessed
severe corruption at the LAPD and promised to help prosecutors investigate
it in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Perez's statements led to the dismantling of the Police Department's
anti-gang units called CRASH, or Community Resources Against Street
Hoodlums. His statements resulted in the suspension of dozens of officers,
the overturning of cases and the arrest of five officers.

The LAPD is also under a federal consent decree that mandates sweeping
reforms and calls for the appointment of an outside monitor to ensure that
the changes are made. The City Council approved the decree in November under
pressure from the Justice Department, which threatened to file a lawsuit
alleging the LAPD engaged in a "pattern or practice" of civil rights
violations.