The California Supreme Court refused today to review the case against two former Los Angeles police officers who were convicted of lying under oath during a 2008 drug case.
Richard M. Amio was convicted in November 2012 of two counts of perjury under oath and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, and was sentenced in June 2013 to 500 hours of community labor and three years of probation.
Evan S. Samuel was convicted of three counts of perjury under oath and one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury by declaration, and was sentenced to 750 hours of community labor and three years probation.
Jurors deadlocked in the first trial of another former officer, Manuel Ortiz. The second jury to hear the case against Ortiz convicted him in February 2014 of perjury under oath and conspiracy, and he was sentenced in April 2014 to 900 hours of community labor and three years probation.
Ortiz appealed his conviction, but abandoned the appeal last December, according to court records.
The charges stemmed from 2008 court proceedings for Guillermo Alarcon, charged in a drug possession case that was dismissed at the prosecution’s request after video from an apartment building security camera contradicted the officers’ sworn testimony.
In May, a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found there was “ample circumstantial evidence” to support the convictions of Amio and Samuel.
