According to a Los Angeles Police Department letter, Internal Affairs officers are continuing to investigate a complaint of police misconduct made by the family of Matthew Turner, who was convicted of a Marmion Way murder in 2011.
According to the letter--sent to the Turner family from the office of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck in November--"the complaint is being thoroughly investigated, which includes the final review stages of the investigation process."
Sergeant James Canales, of LAPD's Internal Investigations Division, said that LAPD policy requires that all complaints be investigated.
"Just because we're investigating the complaint doesn't necessarily mean there was wrongdoing; we're just doing an internal investigation," he said. "Whatever we find we'll submit to the chief of police, and then the chief of police will decide what do with it."
In August 2010, Turner was convicted of the 2008 shooting death of Adrian Betancor and sentenced to 90 years-to-life in prison.
According to police reports, Betancor was killed on the 5700 block of Marmion Way in a drive-by style shooting. Witnesses said a driver pulled up to Betancor and 19-year-old Joey Chavez and asked them "where they were from." The driver proceeded to then fire on the two teens, killing Betancor and hospitalizing Chavez.
Wayne Turner, Matthew Turner's father, has accused the Los Angeles Police Department of mishandling the investigation and claims that his son was falsely convicted.
In an appeal of the conviction filed on Friday, July 15, by Turner's attorney, Christopher Darden, with the Superior Court, he states that prosecuting attorney Andrea Pott withheld information about the payment and relocation of two of the prosecution's witnesses during the trial. Further, Turner claims that LAPD Detective Lisa Governo declined to tell the court that a key witness told her that he had "never seen Matthew Turner" before and that he was "the wrong guy."
According to court records, when brought before the defense during the request for retrial, Governo admitted under oath to withholding the witness' misgivings from the court.
Turner also alleges that Judge Bob S. Bowers Jr.--who presided over the case--was biased against his son due to his affiliation with a local gang.
The Turner case took another turn in November 2010 when, following Turner's conviction, LAPD Officer Gabriel Morales resigned after facing allegations that he illegally mined department databases in search of witness information on behalf of the Turner family.
Morales had been dating Turner's sister for several years.
