Corrupt ex-policeman Rafael Perez will remain in local custody because moving him to state prison would place him in potential danger, a judge ruled Friday.
In a brief hearing, Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry denied a prosecution request for the key witness in the Rampart police corruption case to be moved to prison to serve out his sentence for stealing cocaine from a police evidence room.
"Mr. Perez is in likely danger from all kinds of interests, and I'm most comfortable leaving him where he is," Perry said. "I'm not gonna move him."
Perez was not at the hearing. He is scheduled to be released in early June.
Prosecutors have said the convicted ex-cop-turned-informant whose confessions and accusations broke open the Rampart scandal is no longer needed for the investigation.
A Jan. 26 letter to the court from District Attorney Steve Cooley and Deputy D.A. Richard Rosenthal said, "It no longer appears necessary or appropriate for Mr. Perez, as a sentenced state prison defendant, to remain in local custody."
The move came after Perez's attorney, Winston McKesson, told prosecutors his client "will not be made available to testify at continuing (LAPD) Board of Rights (hearings) or for further interviews until further notice," according to the letter.
"There seems to be no further reason to keep him in local custody," Rosenthal told the judge at the hearing. He should be sent to state prison like "any other felon," the prosecutor said.
Perry denied the request after getting assurances from McKesson that his client would remain "ready and willing to cooperate" in court if required.
"We're very pleased with the decision," McKesson said. He declined further comment and would not say why Perez was no longer aiding the internal police investigation.
Perez became the central figure in the biggest LAPD scandal in decades after pleading guilty to stealing eight pounds of cocaine from a police evidence room. In exchange for a lighter sentence he agreed to tell prosecutors what he'd seen as an officer in an anti-gang unit in the department's gritty Rampart Division near downtown.
He was sentenced a year ago and his statements about officers lying under oath and abusing innocent people helped lead to the suspension of dozens of officers, the overturning of about 100 tainted cases and the arrest of five officers.
It is not clear what Friday's ruling will mean for Perez's former partner, LAPD Officer Nino Durden, who is scheduled to go on trial later this year on charges of attempted murder. He faces the most serious charges in the ongoing Rampart investigation..<
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