Prosecutors Say LAPD Hindered Probe

Prosecutors in the Rampart police scandal have filed court papers claiming that the LAPD intentionally hindered the criminal case against four officers accused of crimes by corrupt ex-cop Rafael Perez.

LAPD detectives on the case have failed to conduct thorough investigations, failed to turn over vital information to prosecutors, and even tipped off a fellow officer that his home and those of his colleagues were about to be searched, according to the documents made public Thursday.

“The Rampart investigation has documented how difficult it is for a law enforcement agency to police itself,” wrote Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian Schirn.

“Many of these investigators from the LAPD have relationships, even friendships, with some of the individuals under investigation. Accordingly, it is not surprising that there are some LAPD investigators who have difficulty conducting a thorough and complete investigation of the police agency to which they belong.”

LAPD Cmdr. Sharon Papa, who said she had not seen the court documents, said the allegations were an unwarranted attack on the department.

“It’s unfortunate prosecutors have chosen to file court papers alleging such things,” she said. “We’ve got some of our best detectives on the case and command staff supervising their investigation. These detectives have high integrity and they are doing their jobs to the best of their ability.”

The LAPD’s alleged failure to turn over information in a timely manner has resulted in the exclusion of at least five prosecution witnesses in a case that already has suffered several setbacks in the form of rulings by Judge Jacqueline A. Connor.

“The people have tried every legal means possible to retrieve information from the LAPD in order to assist the district attorney’s office in its investigation,” Schirn wrote. “As late as [Tuesday] the LAPD has once again informed our office of new reports taken in March that they had ‘forgotten’ to turn over.”

The court papers were filed in support of prosecutors’ efforts to subpoena LAPD officers’ personnel files, which the department allegedly has refused to turn over. The city attorney’s office is fighting the subpoena. Arguments are expected to be heard in Judge Connor’s courtroom today.

Among the material that the LAPD was slow to turn over, prosecutors said, were allegations by one of Perez’s former lovers that she saw him commit crimes years before he admits to becoming corrupt. Though prosecutors do not spell out what investigators withheld, the ex-lover, Sonia Flores, told The Times in an interview that she saw Perez and former Officer David Mack kill two people during a botched drug deal in the mid-1990s. Flores claimed the bodies are buried on a hillside overlooking downtown Tijuana.

In a sworn statement, Deputy Dist. Atty. Ronald E. Goudy hinted that there may be a fundamental conflict of interest with one supervisor on the Rampart task force.

“The investigation of this case may be compromised further by the fact that one of the investigating officers of this task force was a lieutenant at the Rampart Division station at the time the alleged occurrences took place,” Goudy wrote.

“In fact, this lieutenant was the individual that began the investigation into one of the alleged criminal acts when it occurred in 1995. Basically, he is involved in investigating the handling of the way he investigated the officers five years ago.”

Tensions have run high between prosecutors and LAPD officials throughout the yearlong investigation. This is the second time that prosecutors have complained that police officials were refusing to turn over investigative material to the district attorney’s office.

Chief Bernard C. Parks has been critical of Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and his team of prosecutors, saying they were slow in charging corrupt officers with crimes. Some top police officials have said the cases the D.A. has filed are weak. So far, five officers have been charged with corruption-related crimes as a result of the Rampart investigation.

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Times staff writer Ann O’Neill contributed to this story.