LAPD ASKS D.A. TO PROSECUTE 3 OFFICERS IN PROBE

Corruption: Alleged crimes range from assault to perjury in Rampart
scandal, sources say. Police spokesman cites desire to move quickly on cases.

Los Angeles Police Department officials have asked Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti
to file criminal charges against three officers suspected of crimes ranging
from assault under color of authority to perjury in connection with the
ongoing Rampart corruption probe, sources said Friday.

Detectives on a special corruption task force have presented prosecutors
with their cases against officers Nino Durden, Brian Hewitt and Michael
Buchanan, a source familiar with the investigation said.

"We believe there is sufficient evidence for criminal filing," said Cmdr.
David J. Kalish, the department's spokesman. "We are anxious to pursue
prosecution."

The criminal charges would be the first to grow out of the scandal since
former officer-turned-informant Rafael Perez began cooperating with
authorities and implicating fellow officers in wrongdoing.

"We want this case to move forward as soon as possible," said Kalish, who
declined to identify the officers. "However, the district attorney has the
difficult task of methodically reviewing the cases."

Gerald L. Chaleff, president of the civilian Police Commission, hailed the
department's decision to request criminal prosecutions.

"If police officers abuse their authority and violate the public trust,
they should be vigorously prosecuted and, if convicted, severely punished,"
he said. "I expect the district attorney to evaluate these cases and to
proceed as aggressively as the facts warrant. In addition, those of us with
oversight responsibility for the department will continue to ensure that
the root causes of this tragic situation are attacked."

District attorney officials declined to comment on Police Department
disclosures about the probe.

"I'm very surprised to hear that," head Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Murphy said
of the LAPD's public confirmation that cases have been forwarded to the
district attorney for prosecution. Murphy, who heads the prosecution's task
force on Rampart, said his office has "a very close working relationship
with the LAPD."

Although the front-line detectives and prosecutors have a good working
relationship, tensions are running high among top officials in both
agencies. While LAPD officials wish to see the Rampart cases prosecuted as
quickly as possible, officials in the district attorney's office remain
concerned about going before juries with cases built around the testimony
of Perez, an admitted perjurer and drug thief.

"They're dragging their feet," one top LAPD official said of the district
attorney's office.

The three officers all once worked in the same anti-gang CRASH unit as
Perez. In addition to perjury and assault, police officials believe charges
of obstruction of justice and evidence planting should be filed against one
or more of the officers. The LAPD's request for charges against at least
one of the officers has been pending for weeks.

Durden, Perez's former partner, is likely to face the most serious charges
of the three officers. Perez, who is cooperating with investigators in a
bid to shave time off his own sentence for stealing eight pounds of cocaine
from LAPD facilities, has implicated himself and Durden in the shooting of
an unarmed man.

Perez told detectives that he and Durden planted a gun on 19-year-old
Javier Francisco Ovando to cover their tracks. Perez said the former
partners then perjured themselves in court, saying Ovando had attacked
them. Ovando, who was left paralyzed by the shooting, was sentenced to 23
years in prison. He was released in September in the wake of Perez's
admission and has filed a lawsuit against the city.

Perez also alleged that Durden planted evidence in several cases that
resulted in criminal convictions. Some of those convictions have been
overturned as a result of Perez's statements.

Darryl Mounger, a former police officer and Durden's attorney, declined
comment on the substance of the potential charges.

"So, the D.A.'s got them," Mounger said. "Let's wait and see what he does
with them."

Hewitt was fired last year in connection with the 1998 beating of a suspect
in one of the Rampart stations.

Despite the urging of police officials, prosecutors twice declined to file
charges against the strapping anti-gang officer, who was well known on the
streets west of downtown for his aggressive tactics. In both instances,
prosecutors felt the evidence submitted by the LAPD was insufficient to
proceed against the officer.

It is unclear specifically what charges Hewitt now may face. One source
said the department still is pressing for charges in that case while
investigators scrutinize Hewitt's alleged involvement in other misconduct.
Hewitt's attorney could not reach for comment Friday evening.

Buchanan was relieved of duty in October in connection with an allegedly
trumped-up weapons case he made with Perez. He also is accused of planting
drugs on a gang member in 1998 and committing perjury to help send the man
to prison.

"Who do you think they are going to believe, are they going to believe you
or me?" the gang member, Walter Rivas, quoted Buchanan as saying when Rivas
was interviewed by task force detectives in prison in November. Attorney
James E. Trott, who represents Buchanan, said he was surprised by the
development and has "no clue" as to what the police think they have against
his client.

"We haven't been contacted or interviewed," he said.

"The police obviously don't want to tip their hand as to what they are doing."

He, like other attorneys, questioned the credibility of Perez, whose
admissions and allegations are fueling the investigation.

"I have to assume they have more than Perez on anything they bring to the
D.A."

The LAPD's criminal probe has so far uncovered alleged unjustified
shootings, beatings, drug dealing, evidence planting, false arrests,
witness intimidation and perjury.

To date, 20 officers have resigned or been relieved of duty, suspended
without pay or fired in connection with the scandal. In addition, 11
criminal convictions have been overturned and four inmates have been
released from prison or jail as result of tainted testimony by allegedly
crooked officers.