Council OKs Settlement in Rampart Case

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to pay $580,000 to a man who served eight months in jail after he was allegedly framed by two former police officers in the biggest settlement to date from the unfolding Rampart Division scandal.

After weeks of discussions in closed session, the council voted unanimously to settle the case with Miguel Hernandez, who says ex-Los Angeles police Officers Rafael Perez and Nino Durden planted a gun on him.

The officers allegedly “were in possession of a firearm which had been previously abandoned in a police car by a narcotics suspect,” according to court papers. “It was that weapon that they claimed they had recovered from defendant Hernandez.”

The case is expected to be one of many related lawsuits settled in the coming months. The city attorney’s office has estimated the total liability resulting from police misconduct in Rampart cases could exceed $125 million.

“This is an awful way to have to spend scarce public dollars, but we are obliged to do so,” said Los Angeles Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. “I suspect this is the first of many such matters we will have to settle on, regrettably.”

Hernandez--who was represented by attorney Stephen Yagman--met up with Perez and Durden in an alley west of downtown in October 1996. Durden said he locked eyes with Hernandez, who responded by pulling a gun from his waistband and dropping it.

Because he was on parole and had a long record, Hernandez had a choice: Either give up 16 months of his life by pleading to possessing a weapon he never had, or demand a trial and face the possibility of four more years in prison.

He ended up taking a deal at his first Superior Court appearance. He served eight months in prison before he was once again paroled.

Perez later told authorities that the gun was planted on Hernandez.

In exchange for his testimony on the wrongdoing of officers at the department’s troubled Rampart Division station, Perez is serving a reduced five-year prison sentence for stealing eight pounds of cocaine.

Durden was arrested last week and charged with attempted murder and five other crimes stemming from his alleged activities at the station.

Yagman said Tuesday that he was unaware of the council’s decision in the Hernandez case. He added that his client has not yet agreed to the settlement.

The settlement is the third payout approved by city lawmakers in the police corruption scandal.

In April, the council agreed to pay $231,00 to Ismael Jimenez, an 18th Street gang member who allegedly was beaten in the Rampart station by former Officer Brian Hewitt. Hewitt was fired over the incident.

The council also agreed to pay $169,000 to Eduardo Hernandez, who alleged that Rampart Division Officers Jeffrey Stewart and Jeffrey Robb arrested him in February 1998 without legal justification. Stewart slammed his head into a wall, causing Hernandez to “bleed profusely,” according to his suit.

There are more than 60 cases and 59 claims still pending against the city related to alleged police misconduct in the Rampart Division.