Release of Transcripts Blocked in LAPD Case

An appeals court on Monday blocked a federal judge’s order that secret grand jury transcripts be given to plaintiffs in a civil rights case brought against the LAPD’s elite but controversial Special Investigations Section.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted an order by U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts, who had given the plaintiffs permission to review the transcripts so they could determine whether testimony from officers during a grand jury probe of a 1990 shooting involving the SIS unit could be used for “impeachment purposes” in the civil rights lawsuits, which stem from incidents in 1995 and 1997.

Appellate court justices gave the plaintiffs two weeks to explain why they should be given access to the transcripts.

City attorneys, in a petition filed Friday, asked the appeals court to overturn Letts’ order. They said no criminal indictments ever arose from the 1990 grand jury investigation.

Furthermore, they contended that the incident is not relevant to shootings that occurred more than five years later.

“This is exactly what we asked for,” said attorney Skip Miller, who represents some city officials.

Steven Yagman, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said his clients “won’t have any difficulty” in proving their need for the transcripts.

The SIS unit has been criticized for trailing suspects and watching them commit violent crimes before stepping in to arrest them.

Police officials say SIS officers follow some of the city’s most violent and unpredictable criminals.