Despite his run-ins with the brass, Franklin received a glowing evaluation in 2005 from one supervisor who gave him high marks in all categories and wrote that he could be "counted on to make sound, thorough decisions."
But Capt. William Hayes, who had recently arrived at Pacific, rejected the write-up, saying he didn't believe Franklin was that good, according to court records. The evaluation was re-written, with several marks downgraded and notes added that highlighted previously unmentioned deficiencies in Franklin's time management and writing skills, the records show. Hayes declined to comment for this article.
Franklin knew the evaluation would be a barrier to his becoming a lieutenant -- a promotion he wanted before retiring. He refused to sign it and took steps to file a hostile work environment complaint against Hayes and others in the command staff.
On the other side of the city several months later, a man was gunned down in daylight and left for dead on a sidewalk near Franklin's house.
Det. Mark Morgan and Officer Jason Leikam from the LAPD's Newton Division were assigned to the case. Morgan, a 20-year veteran, had worked for several years as a detective in Newton's gang unit. Leikam had six years as a patrol officer and, months before the shooting, had been temporarily assigned to the gang unit.
Morgan and Leikam received tips that the shooters were Alonzo Billups, a member of the notorious Four-Trey gang, and Emmit Bond, an alleged drug-dealer with ties to the gang, according to police documents. About a month into the investigation, the officers felt they had enough evidence to ask a judge to issue a search warrant. In the affidavit Leikam wrote to justify the warrant, he sought permission to search three locations. The first two were the suspects' homes. The third -- Franklin's house -- was listed only by its address. The house, Leikam wrote in the affidavit, "is a known Four-Trey hangout. There have been numerous citizen complaints of gang activity and blatant narcotic sales/use at the location . . . Emmit Bond delivers narcotics and stashes weapons at the location."
How Leikam and Morgan reached this conclusion is a matter of contentious debate. Morgan declined to comment, and Leikam did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. In testimony, they said much of their information had come from the victim's cousin, who identified Franklin's house as a place frequented by the gang and Bond. In addition, Leikam testified that an LAPD anti-gang officer also told them Franklin's address was a Four-Trey stronghold. Both Morgan and Leikam testified that while they were conducting surveillance in the neighborhood they had witnessed Bond enter Franklin's house.
