A federal jury on Thursday awarded $15 million to three Los Angeles police officers who alleged they were falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted during the Rampart corruption scandal that roiled the LAPD for years beginning in 1999.
The jury award represents a bitter pill for the city, which already has doled out about $70 million in Rampart-related settlements to gang members, drug dealers and other victims of police abuse — and now faces the prospect of paying another significant judgment to officers who were accused of committing some of that same misconduct.
The Orange County jury deliberated for 2 1/2 hours before voting unanimously in favor of Sgt. Edward Ortiz, Officer Paul Harper and former Sgt. Brian Liddy. The award was split evenly among them.
“It was real, real obvious that they were made the fall guys,” said juror Rose McKay. “We listened to the evidence for three weeks and never heard any hard evidence against them.”
Dale Goldfarb, a private attorney hired to defend the city, said he disagreed with the verdict and planned to challenge it in post-trial motions. “We think the verdict was completely wrong and was not supported by any evidence at the trial,” he said.
A spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city probably would appeal if those motions failed. “It’s obviously a significant amount of taxpayer money,” spokesman Joe Ramallo said. “It’s serious.”
The verdict could hardly come at a worse time for the mayor. Villaraigosa, who has pledged to expand the Police Department and tackle other city needs even as the government faces a persistent structural deficit, is working to prepare the first city budget of his tenure since being elected last year.
The $15 million, Ramallo noted, would be enough to fund 150 more police officers.
Ortiz, Liddy and Harper were arrested in April 2000 on corruption-related charges stemming from the then-unfolding Rampart scandal, in which corrupt former Officer Rafael Perez alleged that he and his colleagues routinely framed, beat and otherwise mistreated suspects.
February 10th, 2006 | Uncategorized | No comments