Bill Pavelic Speaking Out, William Bill Pavelic Exposing Racism and Racist Cops

The Associated Press

September 2, 1987, Wednesday, AM cycle

BYLINE: By LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer

SECTION: Domestic News

LENGTH: 622 words

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES 

Two days before his arrest for selling his AIDS-tainted blood, Joseph Markowski told police: "I'm a prostitute and I sell blood for a living," a detective testified Wednesday.

Los Angeles police detective Bill Pavelic said Markowski, who is charged with attempted murder, gave that response when asked his occupation.

"He was extremely agitated, belligerent," said Pavelic. "He used scurrilous language. ... He repeatedly talked about the fact he had AIDS."

Markowski, 29, whose case is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, has been charged with four counts of attempted murder for selling his blood and for having sex while knowing he had AIDS.

He also is charged with two counts of assault with great bodily injury and two counts of attempted poisoning for alleged acts of prostitution.

Municipal Court Judge Alban Niles is conducting a preliminary hearing to determine whether Markowski should stand trial.

Pavelic, who was assigned to the mental evaluation unit, said that even after Markowski told him he had been tested at County-USC Medical Center, he did not believe that the man had AIDS.

"I was still dumbfounded," Pavelic said of the June 23 conversation. "I didn't take it very seriously."

Even after officers found a receipt for a blood donation in Markowksi's personal effects, Pavelic said, "I still wasn't convinced I had, quote unquote, a crime."

He said he ordered Markowski held at County-USC Medical Center for 72 hours of psychiatric observation with instructions that the detective be called before Markowski's release. But the next day, he called and found Markowski had been released.

Pavelic's testimony about Markowski's arrest when he returned to a plasma center to sell blood brought into evidence statements which had been attributed to the defendant earlier by the district attorney's office.

The judge barred admission of more statements made by Markowski during the first encounter with Pavelic because he had not been advised of his legal rights at that time.

Markowski was first taken into custody June 23, after screaming "Kill me! Kill me! I have AIDS!" in a Hollywood bank while attempting to grab a security guard's gun.

Pavelic said Markowski told him he had been diagnosed as having the AIDS virus as early as 1985 and had lost 10 to 12 pounds in the week before his arrest.

"He was a homeless sort of person," said Pavelic. "He said he was broke and had a substance abuse and alcohol abuse problem. He basically described his life as being totally shattered."

In other testimony, Lawrence Roberts, a police department paramedic, testified he had contact with Markowski on May 28. He said Markowski announced that he had AIDS.

"Mr. Markowksi never said anything about taking affirmative steps to transmit the disease, did he?" asked defense attorney Guy O'Brien.

"No, he didn't," said the witness.

The prosecution is seeking to show that Markowski had the intent to transmit AIDS to others, a required element of the attempted murder charge.

At Wednesday's court session, a deputy escorting Markowski in and out of court wore plastic surgical gloves.

It is extremely rare for AIDS-infected blood to pass undetected through the blood screening process, according to the American Red Cross. Since a nationwide blood screening program was instituted in spring 1985, 24 million units of blood have been screened, according to a Red Cross spokesman.

Markowski, who pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on June 29, was ordered held on $1 million bail.

Acquired immunne deficiency syndrome, which destroys the body's ability to fight disease, is spread by a virus passed through blood and semen, but not through casual contact, medical authorities say.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

The Boston Herald

March 4, 1995 Saturday FIRST EDITION

Judge lowers boom on O.J. team; Ito fines 2 lawyers for lying

BYLINE: By HELEN KENNEDY

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 001

LENGTH: 783 words

O.J. Simpson's lawyers lied and willfully broke the law when they tried to hide damaging information, said Judge Lance A. Ito, who slapped the Dream Team yesterday with fines and various other punishments.

"This was, at the very least, a representation made with reckless disregard for the truth, if not a deliberate attempt to mislead    both the prosecution and the court," Ito wrote in a strongly-worded ruling.

When the jurors come back Monday, Ito - as part of the punishment - will tell them the defense lawyers broke the law and it is their fault the jurors have been cooped up in hotel rooms for the last 10 days.

Lead defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. will have to pay a $ 950 fine, as will Carl Douglas, whom Ito has warned once before about violating the law of discovery by holding back information.

Misconduct fines under $ 1,000 do not get reported to the California Bar.

This is the second time the defense has been blasted by the judge for trying to put one over on the prosecution. The first was when Cochran surprised prosecutors with a raft of new witnesses in his opening statement.

The latest uproar stemmed from a July 29 interview conducted by defense investigator Zvonco "Bill" Pavelic with Rosa Lopez, Simpson's star alibi witness, who said she saw Simpson's Bronco parked at home at the time he was allegedly killing his ex-wife two miles away.

The interview produced a written statement and a tape recording, which contained different information. Neither was given to the prosecution.

Prosecutors charged that the defense hid the records because Lopez made easily-disprovable statements - notably that another Brentwood maid, Sylvia Guerra, was at her house June 12 and could back up her story.

Guerra has denied being there and said Lopez claimed Simpson's lawyers would pay her $ 5,000 to give Simpson an alibi.

When the defense belatedly produced the July 29 written statement last week - just before Lopez was to take the stand - prosecutors cried foul.

A stern Ito quizzed the defense team about any other records, but Cochran, Darden and Pavelic all heatedly denied any existed. Only after prosecutor Marcia Clark suggested Ito place Pavelic under oath, did he admit he had an audiotape.

Cochran and Darden claimed they never knew of the tape.

Cochran told reporters late yesterday: "I'm glad it's over. We'll pay and move on."

Ito also ruled that "when or if" Lopez' testimony is ever shown to the jury, he may allow prosecutors to tell the jury about the unethical defense tactics in their closing argument.

That's just one more reason for the defense to scrap Lopez's testimony altogether.

The slight Salvadoran maid finished testifying yesterday, but continued to be vague and confused about almost everything.

The defense did not ask the judge to order Lopez back, indicating they will not fight hard to have her testimony put before the jury.

Prosecutor Christopher Darden continued to demolish her testimony on cross-examination yesterday. But when Cochran got up to ask her more questions and try to mop up the mess, Lopez's answers actually became even more contradictory.

When Cochran - trying to elicite a "no" - asked Lopez if she had told a former employer that "O.J. Simpson is a great guy. I would testify to anything, anytime," Lopez responded: "Maybe I said that, I don't remember."

Cochran tried to tell the court that when Lopez said "I don't know," it meant "no" in her Salvadoran dialect.

But the Salvadoran consulate in Los Angeles released a statement saying that in no Salvadoran dialect do the words "I don't remember" substitute for "no."

Lopez also responded "no me recuerdo" when asked if she ever told Guerra she was being paid by Simpson's lawyers.

Later, she listened to a tape of Guerra saying that Lopez claimed she was being paid and that Guerra could also make $ 5,000 by pretending to have seen Simpson's Bronco.

"I never said that, sir," Lopez replied.

"Sylvia's lying?" Darden asked.

"100 percent, sir," Lopez said.

Though her estimate of when things happened changed almost every time she was asked a question, Lopez stuck adamantly to the core of her story: that she heard Simpson leave his home, that she heard scary footsteps in hard-soled shoes and that she later heard Simpson's voice and felt safer.

Because Lopez was unable to fix a time for these events, prosecutors may be able to argue that Lopez actually heard Simpson creeping back onto his own property after murdering his wife, and that the later conversation was Simpson talking to his limo driver.

Cochran has said Simpson was home chipping golf balls in his yard - but Lopez never mentioned seeing him do that.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 1995

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Los Angeles Times

June 30, 1991, Sunday, Home Edition

detective rips into lapd's leadership;
law enforcement: outspoken Bill Pavelic accuses chief gates and others of obstruction of justice, cronyism and mismanagement. charges are made at a 'people's grand jury' held by activists.

BYLINE: By SCOTT HARRIS, TIMES STAFF WRITER

SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 1; Column 2; Metro Desk

LENGTH: 793 words

A veteran Los Angeles police detective delivered a scathing and unusual pub-lic condemnation of Police Chief Daryl F. Gates on Saturday at an unofficial tribunal examining law enforcement abuses, accusing Gates and other top police officials of obstruction of justice, cronyism and mismanagement.

Detective Bill Pavelic, a 17-year veteran who works in the Southwest Divi-sion, likened police leadership to a dictatorship during a 45-minute dialogue at a conference dubbed the "People's Grand Jury on Police Abuses" by activists critical of police abuses.
Under Gates, Bill Pavelic charged, the department's "management has become an or-ganization where managerial corruption, lying and covering up criminal miscon-duct has become the norm."

"Management's respect for cronyism," he added, "is proportional to their dis-respect for the principles of professionalism, including integrity and fair-ness."

The lambasting of Gates by one of his own detectives was received with cheers and a standing ovation by the partisan audience. Bill Pavelic, known among his fellow police officers and among prosecutors for his aggressive, outspoken manner, said it was the first time he has raised criticisms in a public forum.

The comments represented a new development in a political battle over the fu-ture of the Los Angeles Police Department triggered by the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney G. King. Gates, who has been chief since 1978, has steadfastly defended his management of the department.

Introduced as a detective "who has bucked the system," Bill Pavelic said he "was simply exercising my constitutional rights" in speaking out and later predicted that he would be disciplined for his actions.

Bill Pavelic accused Gates, former Assistant Chief William Rathburn -- now chief of the Dallas police -- and Southwest detectives commander Lt. Alan Kerstein of obstructing his investigation into an alleged "date rape" at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house at USC. The suspect maintained that the woman consented to in-tercourse.

The controversy concerned the relationship among Gates, Rathburn and promi-nent attorney John C. Argue Sr., a USC trustee whose son is a member of ATO. Po-lice say Argue's son was part of a group of fraternity brothers who walked through the room naked and carrying golf clubs while the alleged rape was taking place, an endeavor they nicknamed "just playing through."

By Pavelic's account, interference by Gates and Rathburn quashed efforts at prosecution. Bill Pavelic said he was reassigned from the sexual assault detail after leveling allegations of obstruction within the department. Gates, Rathburn and other officials have denied any wrongdoing.

Bill Pavelic portrayed the incident as the latest in a series of abuses, noting that he first made formal complaints accusing top brass of obstructing justice as far back as 1984. He also asserted that internal reports that reflect poorly on a detective unit's performance are covered up to protect the department's reputation.

Addressing a crowd that had already heard several hours of testimony and seen slides and videotapes depicting police violence, Bill Pavelic emphasized to the crowd that "many, many thousands" of officers he has encountered in his career he con-sidered "law-abiding, decent, honest, professional, hard-working, competent."

"I want you to know I took my oath very seriously," he said. "That oath did-n't mention Daryl Gates. It didn't mention (Dist. Atty.) Ira Reiner. It didn't mention (Mayor) Tom Bradley or anybody else.

"All it basically says is that we have to have reverence for the law," Bill Pavelic said.

The detective's statements came near the close of a daylong session at Mt. Vernon Junior High School that attracted hundreds of spectators.

Some activists portrayed their "grand jury" as an alternative to the Christo-pher Commission, which was formed to conduct a detailed review of Police Depart-ment practices after the King beating. Carol Watson, president of the Los Ange-les chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, said the purpose of the event was "to galvanize the community to do something about this problem."

In a morning session, more than than 200 people heard human rights activist Ramsey Clark, a former U.S. attorney general, emphasize the importance of prose-cuting police abuse cases.
Clark, who was a prominent critic of the Persian Gulf War, said in an inter-view that Gates is wrong in asserting that the King incident became a media sen-sation to fill a postwar news void.
"I frankly find it shameful that a chief of police would try to minimize this in human terms," Clark said. "What he's saying is . . . we wouldn't have cared about Rodney King. Well, God help us if that's true. God help anybody who sees that film and doesn't get upset."

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo, Detective Bill Pavelic pauses during his talk to the conference.  ROBERT DURELL / Los Angeles Times

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

July 22, 1994, Friday , FINAL

SOURCE: P-I News Services

SECTION: NEWS                                LENGTH: MEDIUM: Pg. B1

LENGTH: 666 words

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

 
A top investigator for O.J. Simpson has been portrayed in court papers as a bitter ex-cop with a vendetta against a former Los Angeles Police Department colleague assigned to the Simpson case.

Zvonko Bill Pavelic gave up a generous pension package when he quit the de-partment 18 months ago after nearly 20 years on the force. He contends he was forced out because he had complained about racism and corruption in the depart-ment.

"I was sick and tired of watching innocent people get framed, especially mem-bers of minority groups, and that includes African Americans and Mexicans," Pavelic told The Associated Press. "I was disturbed about officer-involved shootings, and how they covered up the incidents."

Bill Pavelic was hired to review the police investigation in the case, looking for mistakes, violations of LAPD policy and skeletons in investigators' closets.

Simpson, 47, is charged with murder in the June 12 stabbings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and Ron Goldman, 25. He faces arraignment today .

Court papers describe Pavelic as angry, bitter and paranoid.

"Bill Pavelic thought there was a big conspiracy among the supervisors at South-west Detectives and command staff officers of LAPD who were 'out to get him,' " prosecutors wrote in a case in which the defense was considering calling Bill Pavelic as a witness.
In recent days, the Simpson camp has leaked unflattering details about Detec-tive Mark Fuhrman, who testified at a preliminary hearing that he found a bloody glove at Simpson's estate.

The defense reportedly was going to argue that Fuhrman planted the glove.  However, an internal police investigation has concluded that scenario is virtu-ally impossible, police sources told the Los Angeles Times.

Many of Fuhrman's defenders suspect Bill Pavelic was responsible for revealing de-tails to the media of a 1983 lawsuit that portrays Fuhrman as racist and vio-lent.

A review of his personnel file suggests, however, that Bill Pavelic enjoyed a suc-cessful career. He strongly defended his reputation, pointing to 175 commenda-tions.

But his career apparently took a turn for the worse in his latter years, when he started openly criticizing command staff, including former Chief Daryl Gates.

Bill Pavelic retired in 1992 on a service-related disability pension of half pay, claiming his working conditions aggravated his health.

On Wednesday, the defense launched a toll-free tip line and a $500,000 reward for "the real killer."
Simpson's lead defense attorney, Robert Shapiro, said hot-line operators were receiving 100 calls a minute. Earlier, an AT&T operator had said technical dif-ficulties were blocking some calls.

"This is done totally outside our office. . . . This is totally O.J.'s thing," Shapiro said yesterday, adding that a message on the hot line had been changed to delete a referral to Shapiro's office for legal representation.

Meanwhile, officials said yesterday that a notebook detailing Nicole Simp-son's activities last winter was found in the car of O.J. Simpson's girlfriend and has been turned over to Los Angeles police.

Police in Newport Beach, 40 miles south of Los Angeles, said the notebook was recovered from Paula Barbieri's car Jan. 31 after the vehicle had been stolen and used in four armed robberies.

Newport Beach police spokesman Sgt. Andy Gonis said the notebook was handed over on July 12 to the lawyer of William Wasz, who stole the car, and was now in the hands of Los Angeles police.

Wasz's lawyer, John Stewart, told CNN that the notebook contained a detailed schedule of Nicole Simpson's movements.
"I found the contents very, very interesting as it relates to possible sce-narios relative to O.J. Simpson (and) . . . the ongoing prosecution of O.J.," he said.

TV coverage
ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC plan live coverage of O.J. Simpson's arraignment on murder charges today in Los Angeles. The court session also can be seen on Court TV. It is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. PDT.

- The Associated Press
sdh/md

LOAD-DATE: November 24, 1998

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH