Joining Burl Barer and Don Woldman LIVE in the Lighten up Lounge is Gregory A. Yates, one of the most respected and daring attorneys ever to do battle for truth, justice and the American way. It was the Rampart Scandal that brought out the best in Yates, and revealed the worst corruption scandal in the history of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The Rampart scandal began in September 1999 when Officer Rafael Perez
pleaded guilty to charges that he had stolen three kilos of cocaine from
LAPD evidence facilities.
In exchange for a five-year sentence, he promised to tell authorities about
a case in 1996 in which he and his partner shot a young Javier Francisco
Ovando then planted a gun on him to justify the shooting. Perez also
pledged to identify other corrupt police.
The largest settlement, for $15 million, was paid in 2000 to Ovando, a
member of the 18th Street gang whom the shooting left paralyzed.
Attorney Gregory Yates, who won nearly $20 million in settlements for his
clients in Rampart-related cases, said he was disappointed that none of the
major lawsuits went to trial in front of a jury.
A trial, he said, "would have exposed how massive and widespread the
corruption was."
He called the settlements part of the city attorney's strategy to "sweep
this under the rug."
The city dragged the cases on for so long that many of his clients were
"worn down" and simply settled to get the matters resolved, Yates said.
"The net result is the city got these settlements without letting the truth
come out," he said. "That's the bottom line."
"The Rampart scandal was a stain on our otherwise outstanding Police
Department," City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said, "I know I speak for all the city leaders and our fine police
officers when I say that we are thankful to put this chapter behind us."
"The reality is, regardless of who the plaintiffs were, there was evidence
of wrongdoing. That's what we had to recognize," said Councilwoman Cindy
Miscikowski, chairwoman of the council's Public Safety Committee. "Civil
rights are civil rights, and they apply to everyone across the board."
Councilman Jack Weiss said it was premature to "close the books" on the
Rampart scandal.
"It doesn't mean that when the ink is dried on the last check that the
department has been cured," he said, while adding that he was pleased at
the litigation's resolution.
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Meanwhile, over at LEAP -- Law Enforcement Against Prohibition -- Good Cops speak out against the so-called War on Drugs: