AUTHORITIES REVIEWING 3,000 CASES IN POLICE CORRUPTION PROBE

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Far more than previously estimated, as many as 3,000
criminal cases are under review in a police corruption probe that already
has freed four defendants from state prison, the county public defender's
office said Wednesday.

The office has received case files for 10 of the 12 officers who have been
relieved of duty in the scandal. The estimate of 3,000 cases represents the
number those officers handled during the past 10 years, Assistant Public
Defender Robert Kalunian said.

"All 3,000 cases are not going to be reopened," he said. "We are going to
examine them."

Kalunian said the office is seeking files on the other two officers and
cases for any additional Los Angeles Police Department officers under
investigation by the district attorney's office.

"We don't know how big this is going to be," he said.

District Attorney Gil Garcetti wouldn't confirm the public defender's
estimate of the number of cases under review. Instead, he said his office
is investigating "hundreds" that might involve police misconduct.

The number of convictions based on false testimony, planted evidence and
other corrupt actions by police originally was put at 500.

Garcetti said the probe already has grown beyond what anyone anticipated
and is the largest problem he has encountered in his 31 years as a prosecutor.

"There has never been as important a case as this case," he said during a
brief meeting with reporters Wednesday. "It goes to the very heart of the
criminal justice system."

Garcetti said his investigation is focusing on getting innocent people out
of prison, purging the Police Department of bad officers and prosecuting
officers who have violated their oaths to uphold the law.

None of the 12 officers relieved of duty has been charged. Garcetti said he
is trying to develop evidence that will lead to indictments.