Breaking News: Attorney Claims LAPD Tainted the Investigation of Stow Suspect Giovanni Ramirez

The recent arrests of two new individuals in the Bryan Stow case seem to indicate that Giovanni Ramirez no longer is a suspect.  But according to his attorney, Jose Romero, Mr. Ramirez never should have been a suspect in the first place because the Los Angeles Police Department tainted the investigation.

"Several witnesses were brought in to conduct a lineup," stated Romero.  "Only one, Joe Logano, made a positive identification of my client.  Our defense team then proceeded to investigate the matter further, and learned that the LAPD had prejudiced Logano's identification by showing him mugshots of only Ramirez prior to the commencement of the lineup."

"One co-worker of Logano witnessed the LAPD showing Logano those mugshots on as many as six separate occasions.  That same individual observed the LAPD consistently showing photographs of just Ramirez.  Instead, Logano should have been shown a 'six-pack' which would include photos of other individuals besides my client.  A second co-worker also witnessed the police having multiple meetings with Logano prior to the lineup.  Therefore, it was a suggestive lineup, with the police trying to point their star witness Logano in the right direction."

"When the lineup occurred, only two of the individuals had neck tattoos, one of whom was my client.  Only one individual had a tear drop tattoo on his face, and that again was my client.  At that point, I insisted on covering the necks of every person in that lineup, so towels had to be brought in.  We also agreed to have the men put a dot on their face with a Sharpie, so as to remove any bias in the lineup.  Without such precautions, the lineup would have been clearly prejudicial to my client."

Even more disturbing is the conduct of the police with regard to the two polygraph tests that were administered.

Romero explained, "the police hid the results of their polygraph test. We conducted a polygraph test on our own with expert Jack Trumarco, and Mr. Ramirez passed it with the highest rate possible.  The LAPD realized their case was crumbling, and rather than bring out the truth and reveal the results of their test, they buried it."

Given such questionable police conduct, it is reasonable to conclude that perhaps this is why the LAPD reassigned the case to the elite Robbery-Homicide Division.

Now with two new suspects in the case, one can only hope that the LAPD acted in a more professional manner than their rush to judgment with Mr. Ramirez.  More importantly, let's hope they caught the correct individuals this time.

By Mike Elliott
Staff Editor of The Daily Sports Herald