Ex-internal affairs officer alleges retaliation, harassment from LAPD
Lt. Jim Gavin testifies that he was told to drop his inquiry into a 1985 murder conviction, and later was transferred against his will. Officials deny any mistreatment, pointing to Gavin's promotion.
A decorated Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant once assigned to the internal affairs division testified in federal court this week that he was retaliated against by his superiors after he unearthed evidence undermining a decades-old murder conviction.
Jim Gavin is suing his department for allegedly waging a campaign of harassment against him and his police officer wife in the wake of his work on the case of convicted killer Bruce Lisker. Lisker was convicted of killing his mother in 1985 and sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.
Gavin was a sergeant in internal affairs five years ago when he received a complaint from Lisker alleging that he was the victim of a sloppy, dishonest investigation by an LAPD detective. Most such complaints are summarily rejected by internal affairs investigators. Gavin, however, began delving into the allegations and soon discovered evidence supporting Lisker's claim. For example, he found that bloody shoe prints, presumably left by the killer and attributed to Lisker at trial, did not match Lisker's shoes.
In testimony Thursday and earlier this week, Gavin told jurors that after uncovering the potentially exculpatory evidence, he was ordered to cut short his investigation by his then-boss, Lt. Mike Williams, who has since been promoted to captain.
Gavin said he was initially told that the shoe print evidence and other discrepancies in Det. Andrew Monsue's original homicide investigation would be presented to the chief of police and the district attorney. When that didn't happen, Gavin said, he provided some of the information to Lisker's defense team and to reporters for the Los Angeles Times.
"I felt that there was a coverup, that it was being swept under the rug," he testified.
After articles mentioning his role in the case appeared in The Times, Gavin said he was charged with official misconduct for leaking confidential information, threatened with a criminal charge, transferred out of internal affairs against his will and slighted in his annual performance evaluation. He said his wife, an LAPD sergeant, was also transferred against her will, given a new work schedule and harassed by co-workers and superiors.
Their family life, which had once centered around their four sons' involvement in sports, was turned upside down by their new schedules and stress resulting from the alleged harassment at work, Gavin testified. He and his wife, high school sweethearts, stopped going for runs together. He gained 50 pounds. She was so depressed that some days she wouldn't bother getting out of bed. Their children lost interest in sports and some began doing poorly in school.
