Javier Francisco Ovando (born 1977), is a Honduran man who became a central figure in the LAPD

Rampart scandal The Rampart scandal involved widespread police corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers either as ...

when he was shot and framed by corrupt Rampart officers Rafael Pérez and

Nino Durden Gino Floyd "Nino" Durden (born May 5, 1963) is a former American police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal ...

. Ovando is an immigrant to the United States and a former member of the powerful

18th Street gang 18th Street, also known as , , , or simply in Central America, is a multi-ethnic (largely Central American and Mexican) transnational criminal organization that started as a street gang in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest transnational ...

. He is the recipient of the largest

police misconduct Police misconduct refers to inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: coerced false confession, intimidation, false arrest, false impri ...

settlement in Los Angeles history.PBS Timeline
/ref> Officers Durden and Pérez entered then 19-year-old Ovando's apartment on October 12, 1996, and shot him, leaving him

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

.StreetGangs.com
/ref> According to the officers' testimony later, they planted a gun on him and reported that the unarmed Ovando had fired on them first. Ovando, paralyzed from the waist down, was sentenced to 23 years in prison based on the officers' testimony.

Release and settlement

On September 16, 1999, Ovando was released from prison after Perez recanted his earlier testimony. The District Attorney's office filed a writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

overturning Ovando's conviction. Ovando had spent two-and-a-half years incarcerated. On November 21, 2000, Ovando received a $15 million settlement, the largest police misconduct settlement in Los Angeles history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovando, Javier Francisco 1977 births Date of birth missing (living people) Gang members Honduran drug traffickers Honduran emigrants to the United States Criminals from Los Angeles Place of birth missing (living people) People with paraplegia Police misconduct in the United States Shooting survivors Living people Victims of police brutality in the United States