JUDGES OVERTURN 4 CONVICTIONS LINKED TO RAMPART PROBE

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Superior Court judges on Tuesday overturned the
criminal convictions of four men because authorities now believe they were
set up by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's scandal-plagued
Rampart Division.

One man was released from jail, another will be resentenced and a third
still is in custody facing unrelated attempted murder charges. The fourth
man served his sentence and was killed during a drive-by shooting earlier
this year.

The court action was fueled by the admissions of former LAPD Officer Rafael
Perez, who is cooperating with authorities in exchange for a lighter
sentence on cocaine theft convictions.

So far, 11 convictions have been overturned and four men have been released
from jail or prison as a result of the ongoing LAPD corruption investigation.

Authorities say 40 or more convictions ultimately may be overturned by the
time the probe is complete.

Samuel Joseph Bailey, 36, was the latest man in custody to be set free.
According to court papers, Bailey was jailed for a parole violation
stemming from the tainted 1996 conviction for being a felon with a gun.

In a recent interview with investigators, Perez said he and former partner
Nino Durden planted the gun on Bailey and fabricated evidence against Otto
Castillo, who also was wrongly convicted and has since died.

In another significant reversal, a judge Tuesday overturned the 1996
assault conviction against Oscar Peralta, who was shot by police in a
shooting that Perez now characterizes as dirty.

The fourth conviction overturned Tuesday was a case against Roy Andres
Montes, 21, who prosecutors say was targeted by Perez and Durden because he
was a gang member. According to court documents, Durden planted crack
cocaine on Montes.

In the wake of the reversal, Montes will be resentenced on a separate
charge that prosecutors say was not tainted by police misconduct.