U.S.

Ex-LAPD Officer Testifies

September 22, 2000 / 2:37 PM EDT / AP

The disgraced officer who triggered the ongoing police corruption probe made a surprise witness stand appearance, denying misconduct in a 1996 case, but saying that 75 percent of his unit's cases were tainted.

Asked to state the philosophy of the Rampart station's anti-gang unit, Rafael Perez said, "We intimidate those who intimidate others."

His testimony came during a hearing Thursday in which two men were trying to get their 1996 convictions overturned, saying police planted a gun and drugs on them during an arrest of four gang members.

On the stand, Perez said there was no misconduct in that case. He tried to justify the actions of officers who planted evidence or lied under oath in other cases, casting himself as a warrior who broke the law trying to clean up the city's toughest neighborhoods.

"We were out there fighting a war," he said. "We felt that in our own way we saved lives."

The district attorney's office refused to dismiss the case against Michael Villarama and co-defendant Jose Contreras, apparently because of Perez's denial that corruption was involved.

Villarama was arrested by Perez and his partner Samuel Martin. His attorney, Charles Clark, suggested that Perez was trying to protect the other officer who had been his sponsor in the Rampart anti-gang unit. Perez denied the accusation.

"I signed a plea agreement. I had a chance to air out all of my laundry. My intent and my purpose is to testify truthfully on every single case," Perez said.

Perez was sentenced in February to five years in prison for cocaine theft in exchange for telling prosecutors everything he knew about corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department.

He admitted framing people, doctoring crime scenes and lying in court and named officers he accused of similar behavior.

Until Thursday, the former officer had never testified publicly about his case in court, although he was allowed to apologize when he was sentenced. He said he had implicated only officers he witnessed in acts of misconduct and did not protect those he knew were guilty.

As a result of his allegations, more than 100 convictions have been thrown out and 20 officers have left active duty. City officials say they expect more than 250 lawsuits to be filed by people wrongly accused of crimes.

Attorneys for the officers contend Perez is a liar who flunked a series of polygraph tests.

In an explosive finale to a day of testimony, Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler asked Perez what motivated officers of the Rampart anti-gang unit to plant evidence, frame suspects and even attempt murder.

"Our mentality was, it's us against them," Perez said. "They didn't play fair, so we didn't play fair."

Several times, he said, "What we did was wrong."

But he also portrayed himself and his fellow officers as noble vigilantes determined to wipe out gang violence.

"One way or another, we were going to get the Rampat crime rate down," he said. "We targeted gang members, hard-core gang members who were getting away with murder."