Dorner case: Investigation reportedly clears LAPD in firing

In the months since Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck launched a review of Christopher Dorner’s firing and his allegations of racism and corruption in the LAPD, police officials have remained silent on their findings.

The much-anticipated report, Beck said repeatedly, would be made public when it was completed sometime later this month.

That carefully laid plan was upended Tuesday by an Associated Press report that the department had reached the conclusion that Dorner’s firing was appropriate and his claims of corruption unfounded.

The report attributed the expected but nonetheless notable findings to Connie Rice, a well-known civil rights attorney who, according to the report, was allowed by the LAPD to review the lengthy report and hundreds of pages of background material.

After he was fired in 2009 for falsely accusing his partner of kicking a handcuffed mentally-ill man, Dorner resurfaced in February, bent on seeking revenge for his ouster.

Police say Dorner murdered the daughter of the attorney who defended him at his disciplinary hearing and her fiance. Dorner then is believed to have killed two police officers and wounded three other people as he evaded capture during a massive manhunt. After more than a week on the run, Dorner was chased by authorities into a cabin in the mountains near Big Bear, where he died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

After the AP released its story, the LAPD tried to put the lid back on its investigation. The department said in a written statement that the investigation into Dorner’s firing “has not been finalized. Any comments or conclusions about the contents of the review are premature. ”

Rice was contrite when The Times reached her Tuesday afternoon. She contended that she made the comments after the Associated Press reporter told her that the LAPD’s findings on Dorner had been released to the public. Rice declined to discuss the LAPD report with The Times.

The Associated Press reporter, Tami Abdollah, declined to comment, deferring questions to a representative for the news organization.

“We stand by the story. It was clear to our AP reporter that Ms. Rice understood she was speaking on the record in advance of the report’s release,” said Paul Colford, director of media relations.

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