Judge Turns Down Simpson Defense Again on War-rantless Search

In 1991, Bill Pavelic established himself as the foremost insider critic of racism and corruption in the LAPD.

Bill Pavelic has been the subject of many articles nationally and internationally for speaking out against and exposing racism that he personally witnessed as a LAPD Detective.

On June 30, 1992, Bill Pavelic sent the following letter to the Los Angeles Sentinel concerning the institutionalized racism, corruption, and sexism, of the LAPD under Chief Daryl Gates’ leadership.

To: Los Angeles Sentinel Opinion Section

As a 19 year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, I am elated that Chief Gates was forced into retirement. His corrupt managerial style, coupled with his inflammatory and intemperate public comments, have done irreparable damage to the City of Los Angeles and its police department.

Daryl Gates and his close associates are suffering from a disease called megalomania……an exaggerated belief in their own greatness and that of the organization. In order to maintain a mythical status of being “the best law enforcement agency in the world” the LAPD management developed a bunker mentality and consciously impeded and retarded investigations or inquiries which reflected poorly on the organization. The “us against them” mentality required faulty analysis which was oftentimes based on pseudo reasoning, clever fallacies and distorted or manufactured evidence.

The disciplinary system under the leadership of Daryl Gates lacked consistency, uniformity and equality and sent a deplorable signal to others on the force, that it is OK to falsify official investigations, violate the LAPD manual, discredit the Code of Ethics and be dishonest as long as you are a member of management or have friends at the top who will protect you even when prima facie evidence of a crime is clearly evident.

Chief Gates has failed to hold accountable personnel under his control who were acting under the color of law and were exercising illegal direction under the guise of official authority. In no sphere of public life is this practice more repugnant than in law enforcement. Chief Gates, who morally bankrupt the Los Angeles Police Department, forgot, or never knew, that true leadership can be gained only by an intolerance of wrong doing…and…unless we all abide by the highest standards among ourselves, we have no business enforcing the law upon others.

Chief Gates used the Internal Affairs Division to intimidate those officers who dared to speak out against Los Angeles Police Department’s institutionalized racism, corruption, sexism, mismanagement, promotional cronyism and other sensitive issues. If the Internal Affairs Division didn’t get these “disloyal” police officers, like the Russian KGB, the organization could always count on the Medical Liaison Unit to send these officers to the Department shrink…to certify them as functionally crazy.

Under the leadership of Chief Williams, respect for individual dignity will once again become an integral part of the Los Angeles Police Department’s philosophy…a philosophy that will be based on the principles of professionalism, reverence for the law and harmony between the police and the community it serves.

Respectfully,

Bill Pavelic, Southwest Division

2008/5/1

@ 04:04 AM (2 months, 23 days ago)

183 of 244 DOCUMENTS

The Associated Press

October 5, 1994, Wednesday, PM cycle

BYLINE: By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent

SECTION: Domestic News

LENGTH: 894 words

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

The judge in the O.J. Simpson case said today it was too late for defense attorneys to explore whether the lead detective lied about why police entered Simpson's estate without a warrant.

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Lance Ito was a serious blow to defense efforts to suppress evidence seized at Simpson's estate the day after the slayings.

Ito said the defense had a chance during the preliminary hearing this summer to find out if Detective Philip Vannatter lied when he said officers tried to call Simpson before entering his estate without a search warrant.

"I find that the burden of reasonable diligence (by the defense) has not been carried," Ito said.

The ruling increased the likelihood that some of the most important evidence in the case may be admitted at trial. The evidence includes a bloody glove found behind a guest house at Simpson's estate and blood drops on the driveway.

In another ruling against the defense, Ito upheld the testing of blood found on Simpson's driveway. The defense said the tests invaded Simpson's privacy and that police should have first obtained a search warrant.

Ito said the argument was "rather interesting and novel" but has "no support" in case law.

One issue Ito left unresolved was whether the defense knew during the preliminary hearing about allegations that another detective, Mark Fuhrman, had moved evidence in an unrelated case.

The prosecution contended the defense did know about this because one of the top defense investigators, Bill Pavelic, was also an investigator in the earlier case. But Ito put the matter aside for now because that a retrial is pending in the earlier case.

Simpson, 47, is being tried for the June 12 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Jury selection started Sept. 26, but opening statements aren't expected until November.

Today's hearing was a continuation of an evidence hearing that started before trial began.

Attorney Gerald Uelmen said a transcript of communications between police and a security company the morning after the murders showed officers were at Simpson's front door - not outside the estate's gate - when they attempted to contact him.

During this summer's preliminary hearing, Vannatter said officers entered the estate without a warrant because they couldn't reach Simpson by phone and were concerned about his safety. The hearing judge relied on this testimony in ordering Simpson bound over for trial, Uelmen said.

"Detective Vannatter's testimony that they placed this call to the inside of the residence before they went over the wall was false," said Uelmen. "That call was made after they went over the wall, and after they went to the front door."

He called the preliminary hearing testimony "a well-orchestrated tissue of lies."

The prosecution argued that the transcript was unclear on just exactly where police were and that at any rate, the defense should have argued the issue during the preliminary hearing.

"They did nothing," said Deputy District Attorney Marcia Clark. "They had the opportunity and they failed to do so."

Clark also criticized the tone of the defense argument, saying the defense was making accusations of lying "very irresponsibly." A few minutes later, though, Clark denounced as a liar a woman who provided the defense with unflattering information about one of the detectives.

That prompted Ito to chastized both sides for saying people were lying without offering proof.

The defense today also objected to several searches of Simpson's Ford Bronco, contending the evidence could have been tainted by a burglary of the vehicle while it was parked at a police tow yard.

Uelmen said one of the items missing from the Bronco was a gasoline receipt bearing the signature of Ms. Simpson. Uelmen called this evidence "extremely exculpatory."

On Tuesday, Ito escalated his battle with the media by revoking a newspaper's trial seat pass as punishment for a leaked story. The Daily News of Los Angeles - the city's second-largest paper - published details of a jury questionnaire it obtained a day before it was officially made public.

The Daily News filed court papers objecting to the action as unconstitutional.

Ito has harshly criticized the media for using leaked information, but the action against the Daily News was the most severe so far. The passes are highly valued because so many reporters are covering the trial.

Ito will consider whether to impose a ban on cameras and microphones at a Nov. 7 hearing.

Other developments:

- Ito has ordered police and prosecutors to turn over volumes of documents and other items, according to court papers released Tuesday. The items include photographs of shoes worn by investigators at the murder scene - where bloody shoe prints were found - and reports by Detective Mark Fuhrman about responding to a domestic disturbance call at Simpson's home in 1985. The defense has been trying to portray Fuhrman - who found the bloody glove outside Simpson's mansion - as a racist who may have planted evidence.

- Simpson's defense team attacked the validity of glow-in-the-dark Luminol tests for blood in Simpson's Bronco. The motion released Tuesday argues that tests with the chemical are unreliable and unaccepted in the scientific community, and that its use has led to reversals in other cases.

LOAD-DATE: October 5, 1994

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH