10 MORE LAPD CASES MAY BE REVERSED

LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors are seeking to overturn 10 more convictions
tainted by alleged misconduct in a police anti-gang unit.

If a judge approves, the district attorney's action Monday would bring to
21 the number of convictions reversed since the scandal surfaced in
September, authorities said.

The police misconduct, centered in the department's Rampart Division, has
led to 20 officers either resigning or being relieved of duty, suspended
without pay or fired.

Four prison inmates already have been freed and 11 convictions overturned.

The 10 defendants named Monday were involved in eight separate criminal
cases, most of them involving drug charges that allegedly were trumped-up.

Most were also linked to former Officer Rafael Perez, 32, who was convicted
of stealing evidence cocaine from a police locker and has been cooperating
with the corruption probe in an attempt to lighten his sentence.

Two inmates are expected to be released following a hearing on the
prosecutors' latest request. The other defendants have already served their
time and are on parole or probation, district attorney officials said.