LOS ANGELES -(AP)- A judge was asked to overturn the conviction of a woman
who claims police planted drugs on her and her mother, stole their money
and hauled them off to jail.

A petition filed Thursday in Superior Court contends that Veronica Chavez,
27, and her mother, Julia, were framed by officers in the Rampart area, the
center of the ongoing police corruption scandal.

"The Chavezes are decent, law-abiding citizens who had never been involved
in the law enforcement system, ever, and they were terribly traumatized by
what happened to them," Los Angeles County Public Defender Michael P. Judge
said at a news conference.

In a declaration filed with the petition, Veronica Chavez said she pleaded
no contest to possession of cocaine in 1998 because she "saw no chance of a
judge or jury believing my word over a police officer's."

Her mother was arrested but never charged.

Chavez , 27, claims police officers burst into her apartment in late 1997,
rifled through belongings and planted crack cocaine on herself and her
mother. She contends that officers stole about $2,000 of her mother's
savings from a shoebox under a bed.

Chavez contends that the officers, including disgraced ex-officer Rafael
Perez, were actually after her brother, a former 18th Street gang member.

Perez, who is cooperating with investigators, alleges that Rampart officers
lied under oath, planted evidence and in some cases shot unarmed suspects.

To date, 67 convictions have been overturned and about 30 officers have
been relieved of duty, fired or suspended.