Don't you think the department should want to find out a little more? This one involved a disturbing station-house beating that happened to take place at Perez's station, Rampart Division. And much of Millers description of his investigation came during cross-examination, in which City Attorney Don Vincent got him to acknowledge that he never found any evidence linking Mack to the crime.Under direct questioning from Wallace family attorney Robert Frank, Miller related his surprise after interviewing Mario Hammond, a cellmate of Knight at a San Luis Obispo prison.I was rather shocked at what he told me, Miller said. But for now, Terrell has put them off. Both Mack and Muhammad were dropped from the case this month and have repeatedly denied involvement.Copyright 2005 Associated Press. Gaines pulled off a gun on Frank and threatened to shoot him when Frank shot him first in self-defense. Fred Miller told a six-man, three-woman federal jury that detectives combed through more than 400 clues after the slaying of the rapper, born Christopher Wallace, but couldnt close the case. The case opened the first door to the labyrinth in Pooles life as he tried to solve the riddle, White Guy shoots and kills a Black Guy. Gulmohar Ending, Explained: Did Arun Come Back Home? [8] Randal Simmons, the first LAPD SWAT officer to be killed in the line of duty, on February 7, 2008 Yet by allowing Perez to trade information for immunity, the LAPD and D.A. "I don't even know who Lyga is," he told his interrogators. No one. Rampart cops dropped gang members out of windows and used them as human battering rams. Not unless the D.A. Jurors hearing the Notorious B.I.G. "The department lost one of their best when Russell Poole resigned," concludes Robleto. Valor. "Now they're threatening him with a subpoena," Terrell chuckles. The trail to Rampart began a year before Perez was arrested, when Poole and his partner at Robbery/Homicide, Fred Miller, were assigned to investigate the March 1997 Studio City shooting of LAPD officer Kevin Gaines. Mack, who later admitted to being a member of Los Angeles' notorious Bloods street gang, was in turn connected with Kevin Gaines, another cop with troubling gang ties whom Poole had investigated. Oct 2015 - Present7 years 5 months. The son of a 27-year L.A. County sheriff, Poole never wanted to do anything but be a cop. After he left, he went to the D.A. He has provided Salon with extensive documentation of his claim that Chief Parks and other top LAPD officials covered up the Rampart scandal and often refused to investigate corrupt police officers. But she also won't be able to comment. One of the key supporters of the theory embraced by the Wallace family is Millers former LAPD partner, Russell Poole. But who controls the Justice Department? Poole conferred with detectives at the LAPD's Wilshire Division station and before long he was given the Notorious B.I.G. Without confirming any theories, City of Lies solely follows Russell Poole and his obsession with the case. Poole learned from interviews with gang members that Rampart cops frequently rousted them without filing log entries or gang intelligence index cards, a red flag to a seasoned investigator like Poole, indicating officers were probably engaged in activities they'd rather not record. Special Agent Dunton from the F.B.I. Then, when the guy rats out everybody else, he makes a deal and gets off easy. OK - Feb 19, 2023. The mayor and police chief put their spin on the scandal for damage control, describing it as a few rotten apples, when in fact it's endemic. I couldn't live with the fact that a department I loved for so many years asked me to keep information away from the D.A. Edwards . is a scripted true crime serial that chronicles the two major police investigations by LAPD Detective Greg Kading (Josh Duhamel) into the murders of Tupac Shakur (Marcc Rose) and Biggie Smalls (Wavyy Jonez). Worse yet, he watched as Parks took credit for "exposing" the Rampart mess -- a scandal that in fact might never have been revealed if Perez had simply kept his mouth shut and done his time. In the aftermath of the uprising, Parker was roundly criticized for having described the . "Have those cops been further investigated? Sergeant Fred Cueto, who served the L.A. community for more . In the end, Jackson told Poole about LAPD investigating Macks Impala according to his theory. In 1997, LAPD detective Russell Poole (Johnny Depp) investigated a road rage incident where an undercover detective, Frank Lyga, shot a Black officer Kevin Gaines. R.I.P. Self - Former LAPD Detective Getting Started | Contributor Zone . the rap star's murder. Poole is the only Rampart investigator to go public with his account of how the LAPD handled the probe. They could have gotten him on 25-to-life. He left the investigative task force and went back to South Bureau Homicide, where he had spent eight years as a detective. He joined the LAPD in 1981 and became a detective trainee three years later. "Russ Poole's day will come," says one knowledgeable source in the Los Angeles legal community, who asked not to be identified. Pontotoc County Sheriff's Office. "He's lying," says Lyga, who worked with both Perez and Mack a few years before the Rampart scandal broke. He testified before the L.A. City Council after the Rodney King riots, calling for then Chief Daryl Gates to resign and sat on the screening board that helped select Gates' successor, Willie Williams. "There's no way he doesn't remember me," says Lyga. A Louisiana man who said he had connections with the LAPD told lawyers for B.I.G.s family that former officers Rafael Perez and David Mack had confessed to two jailhouse informants that they killed the rapper, attorney Perry Sanders said outside the presence of the jury. He felt certain his work would provide the district attorney's office with an airtight case to prosecute officers Hewitt, Cohan and Lujan and open up another case against Perez -- as well as trigger a much-needed probe of the Rampart Division. Directed by Brad Furman, City of Lies is based on Randall Sullivan's 2002 book Labyrinth. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. Mack is currently serving a 14-year sentence for bank robbery. ", Lt. Sergio Robleto, now retired, was Poole's supervisor at South Bureau Homicide. The case remains officially unsolved.Miller testified that after he presented all his evidence to the Los Angeles County prosecutor following the case, He just felt we were just not quite there yet.Miller, who presented himself as very much the retired detective in a green-and-white Hawaiian-style shirt and regular Yes, sir answers, was a one-time partner of LAPD Detective David Poole.Poole, also scheduled to testify, has been a much more outspoken advocate for the Knight-Mack-Muhammad theory advanced in the Wallace familys lawsuit. Why are people treating me this way? Frederick C. died when his plane crashed on takeoff at what is now Mitchell International Airport on Dec. 17, 1954. "No!" Gaines told many of his friends he was being followed by the FBI. 'No, he's dead. In fact, the D.A. The supervisors had no courage. "Everything he does he writes down," says Robleto. Poole contends Mack enlisted college friend Amir Muhammad to kill the rap artist. He also said there was no shred of evidence of any conspiracy to suppress the investigation into the Wallace shooting. It is directed by Brad Furman and is based on the non-fiction book LAbyrinth written by journalist Randall Sullivan. That's why there was a code of silence. This drug theft occurred one month after Lyga was cleared in his final board hearing on the Gaines shooting. The judge called it "political." Born poor to an enslaved family. And the chief knew from experience that if Perez was stealing and dealing cocaine, we had to be naive to think no other officers were involved. June 24, 2005. That two-page report didn't help them at all.". On Feb. 6, 1998, an additional 2 pounds of cocaine evidence, submitted by narcotics detective Lyga, had been stolen from the downtown Evidence Control Unit. That's why I'm gone -- for the sake of my kids, my family, my own well-being.". He was concerned about Mrs. Wallace and was obsessed with finding the truth. Instead, they nailed one guy and that's the end of it. Share to iMessage. Perez, the central figure in the Rampart police scandal, was once Macks LAPD partner. Marketing leadership for Cummins Filtration division. Officer Rafa Perez partnered with D-Mack and committed a bank robbery. It stars Johnny Depp in the lead role. "Limit your investigation to the Jimenez case. He believes that Chief Parks has already circled the wagons. Both men were gunned down in car-to-car shootings, Shakur in Las Vegas the year before Wallace. Poole claimed that Suge Knight, head of Death Row Records, was a gang member who played by street rules. The good officers saw what was going on and transferred out. CREATIVE. ", The evaluations in his file are filled with glowing praise: "courteous," "professional," "a definite asset to the department," "sincerely cares," "sympathetic and extraordinary in dealing with victims," "excellent interviewer and interrogator," "hard working," "loyal, productive, thorough and reliable," "first rate," "diligent," "goes that extra mile," "exemplary dedication to duty," "compassionate." Firing 100 cops is no badge of courage," says Downing, referring to the 100 officers Chief Parks has dismissed during his tenure. Poole began to feel that his clashes with his superiors were hurting his career. Cop Testifies. I interviewed and taped people and put together a solid criminal case, with everything documented. (Lyga remains on the job, having been cleared of any wrongdoing at two departmental board hearings. They'd dig into your personal life and rumors would get spread around that you were a lying scum. As a Firefighter at FS 102 in the early 90's, I recall assisting Fred's EMT Classes in demonstrations of vehicle extrication and physical rescues. He laughs at the notion that Poole might be mistaken in his recollection of his discussions with Chief Parks and other LAPD officials about the Rampart case. Nothing looks manufactured or trumped up. Officer Gaines, shot by Frank, was one of them, the case Poole was already investigating. Poole had doubts about LAPDs involvement in Christopher Wallaces murder. Now 44, married with three kids and happily engaged in a new career, he initially felt he had put everything behind him by resigning from the department. Its just a strange position to see a court place people in.Muhammad became a possible suspect after visiting Mack at the start of Macks 14-year prison sentence for bank robbery. This area of the LAPD website celebrates those officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. "The Dark Side of the Force: A True Story of Corruption and Murder in the LAPD." And the shocking revelations keep coming. A research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, McNamara is author of the forthcoming book "Gangster Cops: The Hidden Cost of America's War on Drugs." Their names were dropped from the civil lawsuit just days before it went to trial. Its an indefensible position Mr. Knight is in, his attorney Dermot Givens told the Associated Press. Some of these complaints, which involved some of the same officers, had languished or not been properly investigated. As a result, Mrs. Wallace and Poole werent able to sue LAPD until the case was open. U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled earlier that the family members must demonstrate that Mack, acting in his police capacity, arranged the killing before they can press federal civil rights claims against the city of Los Angeles. Rafael Perez, the central figure in the Rampart scandal, was once Macks LAPD partner. were professional rivals and also had a feud between them. Earlier in the day, family attorneys tried to link Parks to their conspiracy theory by trying to get a police detective to describe a photograph of Mack, Perez and Parks daughter, who worked as a civilian police employee around the same time as the two officers. "Now, Perez is calling the shots," Poole complains. They assigned him a new job to investigate cocaine bags disappearing from the evidence room. His theory got confirmed when he found out about Officer Gaines and his association with Death Row. Real-life LAPD Detective Russell Poole was obsessed with the truth. Their excuse was that these [gang members] were terrorists running the streets. A Death Row insider informed Poole and his partner that Gaines and another cop, David Mack, were "confidants" of Knight's who were frequently seen at Death Row functions. The revelation gave new hope to Poole, who thought of reopening the case. Cops can be fired for what they reveal, but they can't be prosecuted, because their statements to the IAD cannot be used in criminal proceedings. ), Poole's superiors also didn't want him to investigate Officer David Mack, or Mack's best friend and former partner, Perez. To this day, Poole seethes at the memory of his suppressed report and the full-scale Rampart investigation it should have inspired: "I demonstrated a pattern of ongoing activity that needed to be investigated in its totality rather than individual incidents. Los Angeles, At least 5 people shot at San Pedro beach, Safety concerns and weather conditions hamper San Bernardino County relief efforts, ICE detainees allege retaliation for speaking about medical conditions at Otay Mesa center, Downtown L.A stabbing sends six to hospital; suspect arrested, San Diego Roman Catholic diocese facing yet another lawsuit from its insurance company. case as well. A retired police detective testified yesterday (June 23) that he was shocked when a prison cellmate of Marion Suge Knight said the Death Row Records founder had confessed to the slaying of Notorious B.I.G., one of several clues he said linked the rap mogul to the killing.Fred Miller, who retired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 1999 after 29 years on the force and two years investigating the New York rappers killing, told a federal court jury, I felt we possibly at one time had enough evidence to arrest Knight.Miller described the alleged confession, gunshot residue inside Knights Chevrolet sedan and a flurry of calls placed among Death Row associates in the two hours before the killing, but said he was unable to come up with any concrete connection between the rap mogul and the man he thought was the shooter, Amir Muhammad.Millers testimony came in the federal wrongful death trial in which B.I.G.s family blames the LAPD and city for his 1997 killing. The following month, Poole resigned from the department he had served with distinction for 19 years. This case is closed.'". The FBI is not accountable like a local force. Why would I try to do something to him? There were other disturbing signs of corruption: Gang members told Poole they were constantly being pressured by Rampart cops to provide them with clean -- untraceable -- guns. 's office many times on murder cases. 's package, I believe they are guilty of obstruction of justice. Poole also witnessed Tupacs painting on a wall at Macks house that portrayed Tupac as a deity. You need to constantly fight against the tendency of the police to become a secret, closed organization. "By no means should it have been withheld from the D.A.," says Landsman. It comes down to a lack of leadership. The exploration does unravel some shocking truths, but in the end, they were all allegations made by Poole. Parks has fired more than 100 officers since he became chief, most for offenses unrelated to Rampart. Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about. We remember and honor the officers who have gone above and beyond the call of . Don't add any of that.". Law enforcement experts outside the LAPD who were asked to review a copy of Poole's report told Salon it seemed solid and credible. Los Angeles Police Department. TV Shows. Los Angeles. * Led all streams of work technical and . Jimenez's complaint about the beating triggered an LAPD investigation, which was referred to Detective Poole. Officers Brian Hewitt and Daniel Lujan Jr. of the Rampart station had picked up a local man named Ismael Jimenez, who was reputed to be a gang member, and brought him to Rampart headquarters without apparent cause. The murder of Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur remains unsolved. * Hands on leadership in Computer Vision and Robotics, and partnership development. Landlord/tenant disputes. Creative Insights. Poole ended up producing a 40-page report on the Jimenez matter, plus an eight-page timeline of complaints against Rampart cops. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. As Salon went to press, Poole sued Parks, the LAPD and the city of Los Angeles for, among other things, violating his First Amendment rights to publicly report the criminal activity he witnessed, as well as violating state labor statutes protecting whistle-blowers. (Poole provided a copy to Salon.) He predicts that the department will try to undermine his credibility and even smear his reputation. Muhammed and Mack were neither exonerated nor proved to be involved in the killing, Poole says, because the LAPD cut its investigation of them short. "That's exactly what I did. LAFD Paramedic Fred Miller taught EMT Classes at LA Valley College in the Emergency Services Department for many many years. During my career, I had contact with every single big-time LAPD homicide detective. I am an Onstage Dramatist and a Screenwriter. Hernandez ordered Poole to give him the report, and the computer disk it was stored on. Who knows? Poole took on some of L.A.'s highest profile homicides, including the murder of Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, and Bill Cosby's son Ennis. He had been living with Sharitha Knight, rap star Snoop Dogg's manager and the ex-wife of imprisoned Death Row Records mogul Marion "Suge" Knight. But months later, another L.A. Times reporter, Chuck Philips, wrote that the LAPD was in fact not looking for Muhammed. Poole turned up a credit card receipt showing that Officer Gaines had recently dropped nearly a grand for lunch at Monty's Steakhouse in Westwood, a Death Row hangout.
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