INVESTIGATION INTO LAPD SCANDAL WIDENS

LOS ANGELES- The Police Department's biggest scandal in 60 years
widened Friday as investigators took another look at a fatal 1996
shooting and suggested evidence in hundreds of other cases might be
tainted.

The scandal, reminiscent of the corruption-rife days of the 1930s, was
broken open with information from Rafael Perez, a former undercover
narcotics officer turned snitch who is talking in exchange for a
lighter sentence after pleading guilty to stealing eight pounds of
cocaine from a police evidence room.

It already has resulted in the sending of more than 200 letters to
defense lawyers announcing there might be a problem with evidence in
cases involving their clients.

"The district attorney has sent out over 200 letters to defense
lawyers saying that Officer Perez's testimony might be tainted in
their case," Police Chief Bernard Parks told reporters Friday.

The letters went out a year ago, when Perez was initially arrested,
district attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said. No one responded,
but she expects to hear from several attorneys now the Perez has been
convicted.

Parks and Police Commission President Gerald Chaleff also indicated
Friday they have no idea yet of the extent of the scandal, which
includes reports of illegal shootings, drug dealing, excessive use of
force and false testimony.

"At this point I don't think any of us know," Chaleff said. "We will
follow the facts where they lead."

So far:

Parks has suspended 10 officers and a supervisor at the city's Rampart
Station, which covers an 8-square-mile area just west of downtown that
is home to many recent immigrants from Latin America and Asia.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has announced it is investigating.

Authorities are investigating a police raid on a building in which one
man was killed and another wounded.

A gang member and illegal immigrant serving a prison sentence for
assaulting police officers in October 1996 has been freed amid Perez's
allegations that he helped frame the man who was handcuffed and shot
in the head, leaving him paralyzed.

Police kept Javier Fracisco Ovando in seclusion Friday, a day after he
was released from Salinas Valley State Prison. His lawyer said he had
no idea where Ovando was.

"We've been in contact with the Police Department but we've been given
the runaround," said Dennis Chang, who represents Ovando and his
girlfriend, Monique Valenzuela. The Honduran native had been serving a
23-year sentence.

Another of Ovando's lawyers said they will sue the LAPD on behalf of
his 2-year-old daughter. The federal court suit will allege that the
department violated Ovando's 14th Amendment right to due process,
depriving the girl of her father.

Attorney Gregory Smith said it would be premature to estimate how much
of a monetary award the child, named Destiny, could receive for losing
the companionship of her father.

According to court papers filed by prosecutors seeking Ovando's
release, the original report filed by Perez and then-partner Nino
Durden said they shot Ovando, who they said was armed with a rifle,
after he burst into an apartment where the officers were staked out on
a gang investigation.

But Perez now says he and Durden handcuffed Ovando, shot him, planted
a gun on him and framed him on the assault charge. Ovando says it was
Perez who shot him in the head at point-blank range.

The authorities have declined to detail a motive for the alleged
police attack, but some senior city officials speculate that the
officers were suspected of stealing drugs and money from dealers.
Durden was relieved of duty last month on allegations in unrelated
cases that included planting drugs on suspects and making a false arrest.

The other shootings under investigation took place during a July 1996
raid.

In that case, nine officers planned to arrest two armed gang members
who were believed to be planning a retaliatory attack for a drive-by
shooting.

According to an internal review, four officers fired 10 rounds, with
one of the suspects being hit repeatedly and killed. Another man was
wounded.

The wounded man and a third suspect were both charged with assault
with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

A source who spoke to the Los Angeles Times on condition of anonymity
said Perez, who was on the raid but didn't fire his weapon, called the
shooting "dirty."

Chaleff said Friday investigators would need more than just Perez's
allegations to go on in that case.

"The law in this kind of a situation requires corroboration," he
said.