FIRST ARRESTS OF OFFICERS EXPECTED IN RAMPART PROBE

Two sergeants are among those to be charged in alleged planting
of a gun to frame a suspect, sources say. More charges possible against the
three, other colleagues.

In the first prosecutions arising from the ongoing Los Angeles Police
Department corruption scandal, the district attorney today will file
criminal charges against two sergeants and an officer, according to
high-ranking law enforcement sources.

Arrest warrants will be sought for Sgts. Edward Ortiz and Brian Liddy
and Officer Paul Harper for their roles in the arrest of an 18th
Street gang member, who allegedly was framed on a weapons charge in
April 1996, sources said.

According to one source, district attorney's officials do not plan to
give the three an opportunity to surrender themselves to authorities
today.

"They're going to be arrested," the source said. "They're not part of
the brotherhood, they're not part of any fraternity. They're going to
be arrested like anybody else."

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti is expected to hold a news conference today
to discuss the developments, which mark a significant milestone in the
city's worst-ever police corruption scandal.

The charges against the trio, who already had been relieved of duty,
are being filed just two days before the statute of limitations on
their alleged crimes expires. In a race to beat that legal deadline,
prosecutors over the past couple of weeks have summoned at least 10
officers before the county grand jury to testify about their knowledge
of the arrest.

Ortiz, 43, Liddy, 38, and Harper, 33, are expected to face charges
that include perjury, falsifying an arrest report and conspiracy,
sources said. In addition to the pending charges, which involve the
alleged planting of a gun, prosecutors are continuing to investigate
other allegations against the three and many of their colleagues as
part of a probe into what they believe was a wide-ranging criminal
conspiracy within the LAPD.

None of the officers facing charges could be reached for
comment.

According to investigative documents obtained by The Times, the
officers are implicated in a number of cases involving alleged police
criminality and misconduct. Over the past several months, prosecutors
have successfully moved to overturn criminal convictions against three
defendants who were arrested by either Liddy, Harper or both. Ortiz
also has been implicated in a number of alleged crimes, including the
cover-up of reportedly unjustified shootings. An LAPD official once
characterized him as "quarterbacking" the cleanup of an improper
shooting by officers in his charge.

Liddy, who was a Rampart Division officer at the time of the 1996
arrest, is also under scrutiny for his role as a detective in a
pending murder case in the San Fernando Valley. He has been accused of
fabricating evidence in that case.

Today's expected criminal charges stem from the April 26, 1996, arrest
of Allan Lobos. Lobos was at an outdoor party being thrown by members
of the 18th Street gang, according to police documents.

As police arrived at the scene, according to Liddy's report, several
of the party-goers fled, including a man wearing a black shirt with
the number 13 on it.

Liddy wrote in his report that he shined his flashlight on the man in
the jersey as the man ran through a parking lot, and that he watched
the man draw a black semiautomatic pistol from his waistband. Liddy
said the man crouched between two cars and placed the gun in the left
front wheel well of a blue 1981 Honda Civic.

After police detained the man, Lobos, Liddy said, he directed
anti-gang CRASH Officer Rafael Perez to recover the weapon, documents
show.

But Perez, who is now cooperating with authorities to reduce his
prison sentence for stealing eight pounds of cocaine from LAPD
evidence facilities, has since told investigators on the department's
corruption task force that Lobos was framed.

Perez denied that Liddy directed him to the hidden weapon. Rather, he
said, it was pointed out by a patrol officer who discovered it during
a search of the area.

During an Oct. 15, 1999, interview, LAPD Sgt. John Cook asked Perez
whether Liddy might have seen Lobos hide the weapon and then told the
patrol officer where to recover it.

"If this was true . . . the first thing Officer Liddy would have done,
is to go check that tire. Or, like he says in this report, tell me to
go check that tire," Perez responded.

But, Perez said, several suspects, including Lobos, were held in
custody for "some time" as officers searched the area, even tearing
apart audio speakers at the party site in search of weapons or drugs.

Suspect Pleaded Guilty

Perez said that once he gave the gun to Liddy he did not learn what
was written in the report until he saw it years later, after he became
a witness in the corruption probe.

"I gave him the gun, and whatever he wrote later was fine. . . . It
was his call. It was his caper. And he just did whatever--what he
wanted," Perez told investigators.

Lobos pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a gun and was
sentenced to a year in county jail and three years' probation. But his
conviction is among the 67 that have been overturned as part of the
expanding corruption scandal. Currently, Lobos is serving time in
prison on a murder conviction.

In court documents asking a judge to throw the case out, Deputy Dist.
Atty. Laura Laesecke wrote, "After a thorough investigation, the
district attorney's office no longer has confidence in the evidence
supporting this conviction."

According to the court papers, Lobos was interviewed by LAPD task
force investigators Lance Smith and Joel Justice on Dec. 15, 1999.
Lobos confirmed that he was at the gang party on the night of his
arrest, but disputed the remainder of the police account.

He said he was held at gunpoint by Liddy and Harper in the parking lot
as he watched another officer recover a weapon from underneath a
parked car. Lobos said he was taken to the Rampart station and
vigorously questioned about who owned the gun, according to court documents.

When Lobos could not provide an answer, the documents state, "Liddy
told him that he was going to jail for the gun and rubbed it up
against Lobos' fingers."

Laesecke, sources said, is also in charge of prosecuting Liddy and
Harper. The sources said she is armed with more than just the
statements of Perez and Lobos.

The sources noted that there were a number of civilian and police
officer witnesses at the scene, and that there were detailed
communications between officers on the ground and an LAPD helicopter
hovering overhead, which have been preserved on audiotape.

Prosecutors have painstakingly analyzed that tape and others, breaking
them down minute by minute to create a timeline for the night of
Lobos' arrest.

That timeline, one source said, "contradicts much of what was written"
in Liddy's report.

Sources familiar with the prosecution's strategy in the Rampart probe
said the filing against Liddy and Harper may be followed by a much
bigger case.

The source said prosecutors are "working on a large-scale case that
tells the entire story of Rampart . . . but that's something that
doesn't happen overnight."

Although witnesses have been called before the grand jury to testify
about the Lobos case, prosecutors have chosen to file a criminal
complaint, rather than seek a grand jury indictment.

That decision was made to avoid any complications stemming from an
ongoing legal challenge to the grand jury over its lack of Latino
members. A successful challenge could undermine any indictment handed
up from the grand jury, exposing prosecutors to the possibility that
the statutory deadline on the alleged crimes would have elapsed.

By filing a criminal complaint, prosecutors would have to present
their evidence against the officers in a preliminary hearing.

To date, at least 67 felony cases have been thrown out of court as a
result of alleged police misconduct.

At least 30 LAPD officers, including three sergeants, have been either
relieved of duty, suspended, quit or been fired in the wake of the
probe. At least 70 officers are under investigation for committing
crimes, misconduct or helping to cover up such activities.