Naming Names

The public defender said he was relieved at the result because "Ubaldo was 20 or 21 at the time and could have gone to jail for five years. It’s scary."

But Lottman also said he found the case disturbing because no official action was taken by the judge in the case — Fred Wapner — or by the District Attorney’s Office to punish Perez for lying on the stand. "You would think that if someone’s found committing perjury, especially an officer, they would do something about it."

Wapner said he remembers the prosecutor asking for charges to be dismissed.

"My memory is that he did it because he found out that the officer was lying about who his partner was, based on records he found at the station," Wapner said. "It was withdrawn because of the D.A.’s belief that the officer wasn’t telling the truth."

Wapner defended his handling of the case, and said it was not his duty to see that the officer was investigated for alleged perjury.

"It’s not incumbent on me to do that," he said. "It’s not incumbent on any judge to do that. That’s not how the system works."

Calls to the D.A.’s Kraut were referred to Sandi Gibbons, who said, "I can’t tell you any more about that case because it’s under investigation."

For her part, Toister is skeptical of police and prosecutors being left to investigate themselves: "I can imagine telling that to someone in state prison who was wrongly convicted — don’t worry, the police are investigating it."