LA City Attorney Recommends Deal

Tuesday, November 21st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” The city attorney has recommended a $15 million settlement for a man who was paralyzed after being shot and allegedly framed by police, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Javier Francisco Ovando, who was convicted of assaulting a police officer, had served more than two years in prison when his conviction was overturned last year. He was released after the disgraced ex-officer at the heart of the city's police corruption scandal said he and his partner planted a gun on Ovando after shooting the unarmed man.

City Attorney James K. Hahn proposed the settlement offer in a memo obtained by the Times.

``The city attorney's office, most likely, will argue that $15 million is a savings,'' Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said. ``And I suspect most council members would be inclined to agree with that.''

The City Council was to discuss the matter Tuesday.

The planned settlement offer is believed to be the greatest amount ever proposed to resolve a Los Angeles Police Department misconduct claim.

It would bring to more than $25 million the total amount the city has agreed to pay to settle claims in the corruption scandal. The controversy is centered on officers from a gang-fighting unit who allegedly beat, robbed and sometimes shot suspects.

Three officers were convicted of conspiracy and other charges last week in the first trial stemming from the scandal; a fourth was acquitted of all charges.

The scandal came to light after ex-officer Rafael Perez, who was arrested for stealing cocaine from a police evidence room, began cooperating with investigators in exchange for a lighter sentence and immunity from other charges.

Perez told investigators that he and his former partner, Nino Durden, were staking out an apartment building when Durden drew his gun and shot Ovando. Perez said he also opened fire.

The two then planted another gun on Ovando and claimed he tried to attack them, Perez said.

Durden has pleaded innocent to attempted murder charges and is awaiting trial.