PARKS SLAMS DA'S FAILURE TO PROSECUTE.

Byline: Beth Barrett, Greg Gittrich and Troy Anderson Staff Writers

LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks said Monday that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is not moving quickly enough to prosecute allegedly dirty Rampart Division cops.

Parks said the apparent unwillingness of District Attorney Gil Garcetti to file even minor charges against the officers threatens to hinder the Los Angeles Police Department's investigation into the widening police corruption scandal.

The chief's criticism - which came in a meeting with Daily News editors and reporters - came hours after Garcetti said his office would look more closely at prosecuting a former Rampart officer who was fired last year over a vicious station-house beating.

``My prosecutors, when they were evaluating that case - although they very much wanted to prosecute the case - felt ethically it simply did not meet the standard of proof that would have permitted us to go forward,'' Garcetti said.

Garcetti made his comments in response to questions about a story in Monday's Daily News that outlined how county prosecutors on two separate occasions rejected requests from top LAPD officers and detectives to prosecute former Officer Brian Hewitt.

When the District Attorney's Office reviewed the case against Hewitt in the past, Garcetti said, the evidence did not meet statewide requirements for filing criminal charges.

``However, given perhaps new information, we are re-evaluating that case to determine whether we can ethically and properly prosecute that case,'' he said.

But Parks said the LAPD hadn't given prosecutors any ``new information'' related to the beating as of Friday.

``We must have done a hell of a lot of work over the weekend,'' Parks quipped.

The tension between the city's top cop and the county's chief prosecutor has mounted in the past month over the handling of the Rampart scandal.

On Jan. 26, Parks called on Garcetti to immediately resolve 57 cases involving 99 defendants in which police investigators found probable cause to believe rogue-officer-turned-informant Rafael Perez's involvement had tainted them. Garcetti said the cases would be reviewed as quickly as possible.

On Monday, nevertheless, Parks welcomed the news that Hewitt may yet be prosecuted for the February 1998 beating of Ismael Jimenez, a muscular, tattooed gangbanger with a long criminal rap sheet.

Hewitt, who has denied any wrongdoing, was fired by Parks last June. An LAPD disciplinary board recommended the dismissal after it conducted a hearing into the matter and ruled that the officer maliciously and egregiously mistreated the handcuffed gangbanger.

Official documents disclosed for the first time by the Daily News on Monday revealed the scope of evidence gathered by LAPD detectives against Hewitt. The evidence includes samples of blood splattered on the walls of the Rampart Station, which were matched to the victim's DNA; testimony from an emergency room doctor detailing the victim's injuries; testimony from several citizens and law enforcement personnel; and a piece of carpet from the Rampart Station that is soaked with the victim's bloody vomit.

An attorney representing Hewitt declined to comment.

Garcetti said he understands Park's frustration with the time it is taking county prosecutors to file charges in the LAPD corruption scandal.

``However, I have a very good working relationship with the chief and we have talked a lot,'' he said. ``I think he understands that our evaluation must be independently objective. We also are looking at the strategic factors of when you prosecute in terms of the number of cases that will be brought.

``We want to maximize our effort to successfully prosecute cases and not just bring a case that is ultimately thrown out of court because we don't have sufficient corroboration.''

Garcetti said testimony from Perez would not provide enough evidence by itself to warrant a prosecution.

``Ethically and legally,'' he said, ``we must have sufficient corroboration. . . . Until we have that, we can't move forward.''

Parks maintains that the LAPD has given prosecutors enough evidence to justify filing charges against three officers, including Hewitt. The cops are suspected of crimes ranging from perjury to assault. A source close to the investigation identified the officers as Hewitt, Michael Buchanan and Nino Durden, who was Perez's former partner.

``As long as these officers can sit at home, they have the comfort of being together. You have to separate them, file charges against them and make them make choices,'' Parks said. ``These are not people who have been to jail. Jail frightens officers to death.''

Sandy Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, said it is extremely unlikely the officers would be held in jail until trial on crimes such as perjury or assault under the color of authority.

``By and large, up to and including the officers charged with the Rodney King beating, they are released on their own recognizance or the bail is set at such a level that they can make it,'' Gibbons said. ``So they'd still be sitting at home.''

According to Gibbons, the District Attorney's Office wants its prosecutors to file ``the strongest cases possible to ensure that when these officers are convicted, they go away for the longest possible time.''

Garcetti said he has 10 full-time prosecutors assigned to the Rampart investigation and is ``very likely'' to add more.

Again, Parks questioned why the District Attorney's Office waited until last month to create a task force to look into the corruption. Parks noted that Perez has been detailing LAPD corruption since last September. The former officer was arrested in March 1998.

``We've been investigating this for two years,'' Parks said. ``Every bit of information given to the public has been uncovered by the Police Department. We have the resources to do it and we will do it.''

Parks expects to release a detailed report of the department's findings and recommendations for changes by March 1.

``It's essential the LAPD comes out of this with the reputation that we can investigate ourselves,'' he said. ``Otherwise the Los Angeles Police Department will be crippled.''

Hewitt is one of many current and former LAPD Rampart anti-gang officers identified by Perez as being involved in abusing and framing innocent people for crimes between 1995 and 1998. In confidential testimony to investigators, Perez charged that Hewitt enjoyed ``thumping'' people.

Perez agreed to talk to investigators in exchange for a lenient sentence for stealing cocaine from an LAPD evidence locker. He is scheduled to be sentenced before the end of the month.