Prosecutor in Dalton Case Seeks Material From Officer

The prosecutor in the “39th and Dalton” case on Thursday demanded access to all taped interviews, written reports or other information compiled by a Los Angeles police sergeant who, working on city time, spent much of this summer assisting the defense of four police officers charged with criminal vandalism.

“I want those documents,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Darden said. “I need to see what he generated. I need to see who he talked to. This is just such an incredible situation. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this before.”

Sgt. Robert Kavanaugh, a 30-year member of the Police Department, has said he worked for at least six weeks developing evidence, interviewing witnesses and conducting research on behalf of the criminal defense attorneys representing the accused officers in the 2-year-old case.

Kavanaugh said he did so with the approval of his department supervisors and while on duty, meaning that the public paid the police to work for the prosecution and the defense.

Michael Stone, an attorney for one of the accused officers, could not be reached for comment Thursday about Darden’s demand that Kavanaugh’s material be turned over to the prosecution.

However, in an interview earlier this week, Stone maintained that Kavanaugh was not working as a criminal defense investigator. He said Kavanaugh was only gathering information in preparation of defending another group of officers who face administrative discipline hearings.

“I never asked him to do something I thought could be characterized as solely criminal defense work,” Stone said.

Cmdr. William Booth, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said Thursday that the prosecutor will have to get the materials from the defense attorneys, because police management never authorized Kavanaugh to do any criminal defense work. He also said the Police Department does not plan to conduct an internal review to determine exactly what Kavanaugh did in the 39th and Dalton case.

“If there’s any kind of official investigation, I’m not aware of it,” Booth said. “We’re satisfied he was not working as a criminal defense investigator.”

The case involves an August, 1988, police drug raid in several apartments near 39th Street and Dalton Avenue. The four officers are accused of damaging property inside the apartments during the raid, and nearly three dozen others face LAPD disciplinary hearings.