MAN IMPRISONED AFTER BEING SHOT BY LAPD OFFICERS ORDERED FREED

POLICE: The Release Comes On The Heels Of An Expanding Inquiry Into Alleged
Police Corruption.

LOS ANGELES- A 22-year-old illegal immigrant was released from prison
Thursday, three years after he was shot and paralyzed by police officers who
authorities say planted the weapon and fabricated the evidence used to
convict him.

The District Attorney's Office asked for Javier Francisco Ovando's release
as a result of an investigation into police corruption that has forced the
chief to suspend 11 officers and has prompted federal authorities to begin a
probe of the what is believed to be one of the biggest corruption scandals
in LAPD history.

Ovando had been confined to a wheelchair-accessible cell at the
maximum-security Salinas Valley State Prison since June 1997. He left the
prison about 5:15 p.m.

Immigration authorities said the LAPD asked that Ovando, a Honduran native,
not be taken into federal custody and deported.

Sharon Gavin, an INS spokeswoman, said the request was unusual, but added,
"There hasn't been a whole lot of history on something like this."

LAPD officers were at the prison to talk to Ovando and offered him a ride
back to Los Angeles and he accepted, said Kati Corsaut of the Department of
Corrections. She emphasized that Ovando was not in custody.

"I don't particularly feel vindicated right now; it just reminds me of how
victimized I felt at the time," said Ovando's public defender, Tamar Toister.

"It kind of shakes everything that you believe about in everything. The
system is not supposed to work like this," she said.

She also suggested that at least one of the officers involved be prosecuted
or shooting Ovando, which she considers attempted murder.

Federal authorities announced Thursday that they would conduct their own
investigation. Two internal investigations by the Police Department led to
the suspension of 10 officers and one supervisor. Unidentified sources told
the Los Angeles Times the officers had been dealing drugs or protecting
those who were.

"We will work with (Police) Chief (Bernard) Parks to learn all of the facts
surrounding these incidents and to deal with them appropriately,"
U.S.Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas said.

"It kind of shakes everything that you believe about in everything. The
system is not supposed to work like this," she said.

She also suggested that at least one of the officers involved be prosecuted
for shooting Ovando, which she considers attempted murder.

Federal authorities announced Thursday that they would conduct their own
investigation. Two internal investigations by the Police Department led to
the suspension of 10 officers and one supervisor. Unidentified sources told
the Los Angeles Times the officers had been dealing drugs or protecting
those who were.

"We will work with (Police Chief (Bernard ) Parks to learn all of the facts
surrounding these incidents and to deal with them appropriately," U.S
Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas said.

"Every day we work, every act that we have, every arrest we make, every
ticket we write brings in the integrity of someone and it's our job to
assure it's at the highest level we can, but we're also dealing with the
human element of individuals that have to understand their responsibility to
the community and this department," Parks said Thursday during a ceremony
honoring slain officers.

Former officer Rafael A. Perez, who pleaded guilty last week to stealing
eight pounds of cocaine from an evidence locker room, has been cooperating
with police as part of his own plea bargain.

Perez, 32, reportedly told investigators he and former partner Nino Durden
planted a 22-caliber rifle on the unarmed Ovando after shooting him in
October 1996.

Ovando, although he was affiliated with a street gang, had no prior criminal
convictions before he was found guilty of assault on the officers. He was
sentenced to 23 years in prison.

All of the investigations have targeted the department's Rampart Station,
which covers an eight-square-mile area just west of downtown that is home to
many recent immigrants from Latin America and Asia.

Residents of the community hung a banner Thursday in support of officers:
"The community love the men and women of Rampart Station."

Perez, a nine-year veteran, was a one-time partner of former officer David
Mack, who was convicted earlier this year of bank robbery. Mack was
sentenced Monday to 14 years in federal prison for robbing a Bank of America
branch of $722,000 in November 1997.

Mack was credited with saving Perez's life by killing a drug dealer in 1993.
Prosecutors said Mack went on a spending spree after the bank robbery,
including a Las Vegas trip with Perz and another officer.