Los Angeles Times - 27.08.2019

$2.75DESIGNATED AREAS HIGHER © 2019 WSCE TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019 latimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO —

The California Supreme

Court decided unanimously

Monday that the Los Ange-

les County Sheriff ’s Depart-

ment and other law enforce-

ment agencies may alert

prosecutors that a deputy

who might testify in a crimi-

nal case has a history of mis-

conduct.

The decision was narrow,

holding only that state confi-

dentiality laws permit law

enforcement agencies to

alert prosecutors when an

officer who is a potential wit-

ness has something in his or

her background that might

affect the outcome of the

case.

Legal analysts said the

ruling was likely to benefit

the defense and possibly

change the outcome of some

cases but would not ensure

that relevant information

about errant officers is dis-

closed.

The case stemmed from a

lawsuit filed by the L.A. dep-

uties union to prevent for-

mer Sheriff Jim McDonnell

from turning over to the dis-

trict attorney about 300

names of deputies with a his-

tory of misconduct.

A divided Los Angeles-

based state Court of Appeal

ruled in 2017 that the list

must be kept secret, even in

pending criminal cases in

which deputies with past

misconduct were expected

to testify.

In allowing police agen-

cies to disclose the names of

errant officers to prose-

cutors, the state high court

tried to “harmonize” state

laws that protect police per-

sonnel records with a 1963

U.S. Supreme Court case,

Brady vs. Maryland, that

said suppression of evidence

favorable to the defense vio-

lated due process.

Despite strong wording

in the ruling reminding po-

lice and prosecutors of their

duties to disclose, Monday’s

decision did not require law

enforcement agencies to

keep lists of problem officers

so they could be readily iden-

tified to prosecutors.

Mark Harvis, an appel-

late lawyer in the L.A. public

defender’s office, said some

law enforcement agencies

would probably continue to

withhold relevant informa-

tion.

“They have to inform the

prosecutor of actual Brady

stuff in a pending case, but

where is the teeth in that if

they don’t?” said Harvis,

Court

declines

to shield

problem

officers

State justices allow

L.A. sheriff to give

names of deputies

with past misconduct

to prosecutors.

By Maura Dolan

[SeeOfficers,A8]

For an immigrant who

journeys to the Deep South

to toil in the chicken facto-

ries, it does not take long to

figure out how to land a job

— even without legal status

to work in the United States.

Arriving in Mississippi

last year, Beatriz, a 22-year-

old Guatemalan, quickly

learned all she had to do was

purchase fraudulent docu-

ments and apply at one of

the many plants where cur-

sory reviews and few ques-

tions are the norm.

So she paid a man $1,

for a fake Social Security

card, a matching identifica-

tion card with her photo and

a new name: Brandy.

Within days, she had a job

cutting and weighing

chicken at Pearl River Foods

in the town of Carthage.

“It’s not a secret. Almost

everyone works with anoth-

er name,” she said. “All they

do is verify your Social Secu-

rity number and your ID

with another name and

you’re good.”

One of 680 workers

rounded up this month by

Immigration and Customs

Enforcement in massive

raids at poultry plants

across Mississippi, Beatriz

spoke on condition that she

be identified only by her

middle name because she

was admitting to a crime and

did not want to hurt her im-

migration case.

The operation exposed

the poultry industry’s wide-

spread use of unauthorized

A RECENT RAID in Morton, Miss., exposed the poultry industry’s widespread use of unauthorized workers.

Photographs byRogelio V. SolisAssociated Press

Past the identity checkpoint

E-Verify can’t detect when a job applicant uses another’s name

By Cindy Carcamo

and Jenny Jarvie

FRIENDS,colleagues and family members watch as

U.S. immigration officials remove workers from the

Koch Foods Inc. poultry plant in Morton on Aug. 7. [SeeE-Verify,A7]

BIARRITZ, France —
President Trump, who has
repeatedly denounced his
predecessor’s diplomacy
with Iran, said Monday that
he’s open to negotiating with
Tehran over its nuclear pro-
gram, signaling a possible
new approach toward a gov-
ernment that he’s sanc-
tioned for supporting terror-
ism in the Middle East.
“We’re not looking for
leadership change,” Trump
said, ruling out a goal that
some of his top advisors have
explicitly endorsed in the
past. “This country has been
through that many times be-
fore; that doesn’t work.”
Trump’s remarks at
a news conference with
French President Emman-
uel Macron came on the final
day of the Group of 7 summit
that was otherwise domi-
nated by the president’s ef-
forts to soothe markets and
other world leaders about
his escalating trade conflict
with China.
Asked about how the
wide swings in his stance
toward Beijing — threat-
ening one day, placating the
next — have unnerved in-
vestors and confused allies,
Trump defended his ap-
proach.
“Sorry, it’s the way I nego-
tiate,” he said. “It’s the way I
negotiate. It’s done very well
for me over the years. It’s do-
ing even better for the coun-
try.”

Trump

says he’s

willing

to talk

with Iran

At G-7 summit, the

president insists the

U.S. is ‘not looking for

leadership change’ in

the Islamic Republic.

By Eli Stokols,
Chris Megerian
and Tracy Wilkinson

[SeeG-7,A4]

How do you make a func-
tional, contemporary park
and museum in which a
fiberglass Columbian mam-
moth family can also feel
comfortably at home? That
is a puzzle three interna-
tional architectural firms
have tried to solve with com-
peting plans for revamping
the public park, museum
and paleontology research
sites that make up Los An-
geles’ La Brea Tar Pits.
One plan adds a new wing
to the 42-year-old George C.
Page Museum, along with
pedestrian pathways over
the Lake Pit, the bubbling
body of water that borders
Wilshire Boulevard. Anoth-
er adds a more transparent
story on top of the Page, lift-
ing the museum entrance.
The third plan calls for an

THE PAGEMuseum gets a complete redo in a Diller Scofidio + Renfro concept.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Tar pits redesigns bubble up

Three firms submit proposals with distinct visions

By Carolina A. Miranda

A SERIES of looping walkways connect an arboreal

La Brea Tar Pits in a rendering by Weiss/Manfredi.

Weiss / Manfredi

[SeeTar pits,A9]

NORMAN, Okla. — An

Oklahoma judge on Monday

found Johnson & Johnson

and its subsidiaries helped

fuel the state’s opioid crisis

and ordered the consumer

products giant to pay $

million, more than twice the

amount another drug man-

ufacturer agreed to pay in a

settlement.

Cleveland County Dis-

trict Judge Thad Balkman’s

ruling followed the first state

opioid case to make it to trial

and could help shape nego-

tiations over about 1,

similar lawsuits filed by

state, local and tribal gov-

ernments and consolidated

before a federal judge in

Ohio.

“The opioid crisis has

ravaged the state of Okla-

homa,” Balkman said before

announcing the judgment.

“It must be abated immedi-

ately.”

An attorney for the com-

panies said they planned to

appeal the ruling to the

Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Before Oklahoma’s trial

began on May 28, the state

reached settlements with

two other defendant groups

— a $270-million deal with

OxyContin maker Purdue

Pharma and an $85-million

settlement with Israeli-

owned Teva Pharmaceutical

Industries Ltd.

Oklahoma argued that

the companies and their

subsidiaries created a public

nuisance by launching an

aggressive and misleading

marketing campaign that

overstated how effective the

drugs were for treating

chronic pain and under-

stated the risk of addiction.

Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Mike

Hunter says opioid over-

doses killed 4,653 people in

the state from 2007 to 2017.

Hunter called Johnson

& Johnson a “kingpin” com-

pany that was motivated

by greed. He specifically

Johnson & Johnson

fueled opioid crisis,

must pay, judge rules

$572-million judgment

in Oklahoma raises

stakes in drug cases.

[SeeOpioids,A8]

associated press

Microplastics found in Lake Tahoe

A battle over

hidden hotel fees

Travel websites are

pushing lodging pro-

viders to be more trans-

parent about the total

cost they plan to charge

customers. BUSINESS, C

Weather

Mostly sunny.

L.A. Basin: 87/66. B

Printed with soy inks on

partially recycled paper.

It’s the first time the pollution has been detected

there, and scientists are now trying to determine

its source and potential harm to plants and animals

living in the lake’s deep water. CALIFORNIA, B

Mark BosterLos Angeles Times

LEGAL FIGHT:California and 18 other states sue the U.S. over detention of migrant children. CALIFORNIA, B