The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 51

B4 CALIFORNIA LOSANGELESTIMES NORWALK Man is convicted in killing of deputy AHawaiian Gardens gang member was convicted Tuesday of murdering a Los Angeles County deputy in June 2005. Jose Luis Orozco, 29, was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder with special circumstances of murder of a police officer and possession of a firearm by a felon. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty when the penalty phase of his trial begins next week. Deputy Luis Gerardo Ortiz, 35, was shot June 24, a Hawaiian Gardens apartment building while investigating a shooting in which Orozco was a suspect. LOS ANGELES LAPD delays plan to install video cameras The Police Commission agreed Tuesday to a one-week delay in a plan to select IBM to install video cameras in 300 patrol cars.

Another bidder, Panasonic, questioned whether there were hidden costs in its proposal. The bidding rules require the Police Department to hold a hearing on the protest by Tuesday, when the contract proposal will be back before the commission. LOS ANGELES Police Commission calls for stricter supervision Aseries of internal audits has found lapses in the supervision of gang enforcement units in the Police Department, causing Police Commission members to call for stricter oversight. The panel asked for a report in 30 days on fixes to the problems, including the lack of adherence to search warrant procedures and a failure to document other supervision. supervision is not as tight as it should have Commission President John Mack said.

very important that we have adequate and effective at the middle management level. at the level wherewe have the potential of things going LOS ANGELES City to form anti-gang oversight committee Under fire for spending $82million annually on gang- prevention programs without measuring how effective they are, the City Council agreed Tuesday to form a panel of academics to suggest evaluation methods. The City Council also agreed to create a steering committee, including the mayor, city administrative officer and city attorney, to determine which anti-gang programs should be funded in the coming fiscal year. LOS ANGELES City to use condemnation powers to buy properties Despite protests from existing tenants, the City Council decided Tuesday to use condemnation powers to buy properties at 256 S. Main St.

and 249 S. Los Angeles St. to build a parking garage and motor-transport yard to serve a new police headquarters building. Arepresentative for business tenants said the use of condemnation powers was not justified and wouldadd unnecessary costs to the city project. Councilwoman Jan Perry said an art gallery and food stand on the site would be encouraged to relocate into retail space on the first floor of the parking garage.

LOS ANGELES City boosts pay for police with military experience Providing new incentives to recruit and retain police officers, the City Council agreed Tuesday to offer advanced-step hiring for those with military experience, adding as much a year to their salaries. The cityalso agreed to provide hazard pay for tactical flight officers who ride in helicopters and assist police officers on the ground. The cost will be $517,000 ayear, including pensions, or about $18,400 for each of the 28 tactical flight officers. want to let the public know we are concerned about the recruitment efforts of the Los Angeles Police Councilman Dennis Zine said. LOS ANGELES COUNTY Board OKs expanding chief administrator role The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday tentatively approved a proposed ordinance to expand the authority of the chief administrator after amending it somewhat.

Under the proposed ordinance, the chief administrator would have hiring and firing power over most appointed county department heads. A few such department heads, including county counsel, auditor-controller and the executive officer, would continue to report directly to the board, however. Supervisor Mike Antonovich narrowly won approval for an amendment adding the county fire chief to the list of department heads under the direct control. The revised ordinance was approved 4 to 1, with Antonovich, who is opposed to shifting authority from elected officials to an appointed administrator, casting the The proposal will come back to the board for final approval next week. From Times Staff Reports IN BRIEF Los Angeles County Super Lotto Plus Jackpot: $7 million Sales close at 7:45 p.m.

For Tuesday, March 20, 2007 Mega Millions Mega number is bold Mega 15 Jackpot: $37 million Fantasy Five: 3-14-19-34-38 Daily Three (midday): 2-9-4 Daily Three (evening): 6-4-2 Daily Derby: (3) Hot Shot (5) California Classic (7) Eureka Race time: 1:46.28 Results on the Internet: www.latimes.com/lottery General information: (800) 568-8379 (Results not available at this number) Lottery results If you get your paper or for other delivery services, please call: (800) 252-9141 To reach the Los Angeles city desk: Mailing address: Los Angeles Times City Desk 202 W. 1st St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 E-mail: Fax: (213) 237-4712 For news, please call (213) 237-7847. How to reach us By Maeve Reston Times Staff Writer After a two-day hearing in which prosecutors previewed their case against the man accused of lighting the Esperanza fire inOctober, a Riverside County judge ruled that suspected arsonist Raymond Lee Oyler would stand trial for murder in the deaths of five firefighters killed in the blaze. He also will be tried on 22 counts of arson and 17 counts of possession of materials to commit arson, Judge Jeffrey Prevost ruled.

Family members of the firefighters, who filled three rows in the Riverside courtroom, sobbed quietly as Prevost said he had seen enough evidence to try Oyler, a 36-year-old mechanic from Beaumont, on arson charges in the Esperanza fire and 21 others in the San Gorgonio Pass between May and October of last year. Riverside County prosecutor Michael Hestrin acknowledged in his closing statement that he had laidout circumstantial against Oyler. But Hestrin argued that the circumstantial evidence was strong, including DNA said to be found on cigarette-and- match devices used to light two fires in June, the discovery that similar devices were used to light many of the fires, and testimony from relatives that he had set arson fires in the San Gorgonio Pass and said he wanted to the mountain on to free a family dog a week before the Esperanza fire. have the defendant di- rectly tied to five of these arsons; we have got him tied by DNA to two Hestrin said. Hestrin added that since Oyler was arrested Oct.

31 there had been no arson fires in the after more than 50 of them last year. attorney, Mark McDonald, told the judge evidence fell and that investigators had failed to establish a strong case against his client. going to be able to show is that the devices used in all these various 23 fires are by no means McDonald said in an interview after the hearing. Earlier in the hearing, when the chief Esperanza arson investigator laid out the case allegingthat Oyler had used half a dozen types of devices including matches laid across a cigarette and cigarette-and- match devices affixed with duct tape because he was looking for the most effective one McDonald challenged him vigorously. just guessing.

just he told James Engel in court. The most potentially damaging testimony came from fiancee, CrystalBreazile, and his cousin Jill Frame. Breazile, who was subpoenaed by prosecutors, told the court that Oyler had admitted lighting fires in the Banning- Beaumont area in 2006and that she threatened to leave him if he stop. Frametestified that Oyler was upset about the impounded dog, which had attacked a woman. Frame testified that when she visited apartment four days before the fire began he said he had been out the entire previous night looking for alocation to set a fire.

maeve.reston@latimes.com Esperanza suspect faces murder trial Riverside County judge rules enough evidence against the man accused of setting blaze that killed five firefighters. Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times IN COURT: Raymond Oyler, right, with attorney Mark McDonald, also faces 22 counts of arson and related charges. By David Reyes Times Staff Writer When the work crews started pulling down the old buildings and barracks at the closed El Toro Marine base, they expected to find old appliances, faucets and hardware that, if they were lucky, might be worth salvaging. But the unexpected turned up: apainting of the flag-raising at Iwo Jima, mess hall recipes calling for pounds of butter for shortbread cookies, faded photographs and street signs bearing the names of fabled military battles such as Inchon and Midway. In some of the buildings, the Marines had taken everything.

But in others, there were items that, aside from dust, looked as if the soldiers had left just yesterday. was walking through a large office and found these recipes sitting there as if someone just had been working on said Carol Schroeder Wold, a community affairs official with Lennar which is razing the base for private development. as if Wold and Habitat for Humanity workers, who are salvaging the sprawling facility, opened a door into Twilight instead of drafty Marine barracks and warehouses. eerie said Jason McKinstry, president of resource center in Corona. remember walking into a classroom, and the desks were still there lined up, and there was chalk on the blackboard.

like they had class on Thursday and decided not to The base, which was officially closed eight years ago, is set to begin life anew as a community encircling a vast urban park that is expected to cost more than $1billion. During the demolitionof the base, workers have come across Civil Engineer Corps plaques, ornamental signs listing each commandant since 1943, boxes of old radio parts, even ladders used by ground crew to service A-6 Intruders. Habitat for Humanity work- ersfound the Iwo Jima painting, which was used as a glass partition separating an aircraft ground equipment maintenance office from a conference room. The Marines apparently had viewed the see-through glass as a distraction and in 1994, with a projector and knives, outlined the famed image and hand- painted the flag-raising, Habitat officials said. The painting and hundreds of other items are being inventoried and stored for a proposed museum at the site.

Over the last year, Habitat has gleaned dozens of former military offices, buildings and homes, extracting more than 3 million pounds of materials. Officially known as Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, the base opened in 1943 and became the permanent center of Marine aviation on the West Coast. But after 50 years, it was tar- getedfor closure duringthe 1993 Base Realignment and Closure process. Military operations ceasedin July 1999. The El Toro aviation museum was moved to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego County.

Tom curator of the Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum at Miramar, expressed interest in the discoveries at El Toro. of these things look important to the average said. stuff that get re-created. Those ladders and that painting, like to take a look at Lennar paid the U.S. Navy for the base in 2005 and then transferred more than 1,000 acres for the Orange County Great Park to Irvine.

The developer has approval to build 3,500 homes and about 5 million square feet of commercial and retail space. The park will be at the center of the massive development. The salvage and recycling operation is being called one of the largest in the United States. Part of the work includes ripping out El four concrete runways to recycle materials to build new streets and sidewalks for development. Demolition of the former base is scheduled to end in 2012.

Wold, who likes to cook, saw the recipes that called for gargantuan portions of sugar and shortening, and was immediately intrigued. Only later did she find a clue in a small sign proclaiming the pride in service from the of Mess Hall Their slogan: Proudly Serve For Kevin Donohue, 53, now with Morgan Stanley in Orange County, hearing about mementos and El Toro brought back memories. He was stationed there in an A-4 Skyhawk squadron in the early 1980s. sure some of the artifacts being found might be considered junk, but a lot of it has important meaning to me and others who served he said. david.reyes@latimes.com Photographs by Don Kelsen Los Angeles Times A KEEPER: Jason McKinstry, left, and Dan Futterman of Habitat for Humanity move a glass painting of the flag-raising at Iwo Jima.

It was used as a partition between two rooms at El Toro. Base jetsam is prized HALLOWED NAMES: Street signs salvaged from base housing are among many items being stored for a proposed museum. Demolition crews at the closed El Toro Marine facility are finding some treasures among the trash. Much of it could end up in museums. of these things look important to the average person.

But stuff that get Tom Miramar museum curator By Richard Winton Times Staff Writer An FBI-led fugitive task force has captured a reputed18th Street gang member in Huntington Park who was wanted by the Mexican government in the slaying of a Zacatecas municipalpo- lice officer. Odilon Carlos, also known as Odilon Carlos-Marquez, was turned over Tuesday to Mexican authorities by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at the San Ysidro border crossing. Officials said Carlos, 27, was taken into custody the day before by a team of FBI Angeles police officers and immigration officers as he walked out of a market in the 6400 block of Santa Fe Avenue. capture should send a message to fugitives from justice that crossing the U.S.-Mexican border does not provide said J.

Stephen Tidwell, assistant director of the Los Angeles office. capture follows recent arrests, including one this month, by Mexican authorities of suspected gang members sought by Los Angeles-area law enforcement officials. Steve Garcia, a murder suspect on the Los Angeles Police list of 10 most-wanted gang members, was caught March 2 in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. Officials said Carlos had been deported in 2005 after serving five years in prison on a 1999 felony conviction for possessing an Uzi automatic weapon. On Dec.

28, he allegedly used asimilar Uzi to open fire on three Zacatecas municipal officers, killing one and seriously injuring the other two, said Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman. After theshooting, Mexican authorities searched for thesus- pect for several days but were unable to find Carlos in the rugged mountains near Zacatecas. The suspect was living in that city in central Mexico. This month FBI officials were contacted by Mexican law enforcement authorities, who said Carlos had illegally returned to the U.S. and was living in the Los Angeles area, Eimiller said.

That information led the fugitive task force to the Huntington Park area, where girlfriend lives, she said. Jim Hayes, director of field office in L.A., said that since January 2006, fugitive task forces working in the area have taken into custody 39 foreign nationals sought in their native countries on suspicion of serious crimes. richard.winton@latimes.com Fugitive is turned over to Mexico From the Associated Press PALO ALTO, Calif. A century-old math puzzle so complicated that its handwritten solution would cover the island of Manhattan was finally cracked by an international research team that had been working on it for four years. The 18-member group of mathematicians and computer scientists was convened by the American Institute of Mathematics in Palo Alto to map a theoretical object known as the group 8 Lie (pronounced Lee) groups were invented by 19th-century Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie in his study of symmetrical objects, especially spheres, and differential calculus.

The 8 group, discovered in 1887, is the most complicated Lie group, with 248 dimensions, and was long considered impossible to solve. say what precisely it is is something even many mathematicians said Jeffrey Adams, the leader and a math professor at the University of Maryland. The proof, announced Monday, consists of more than 205billion entries, with about 60 times the data as the Human Genome Project. When stored in highly compressed form on a computer hard drive, the solution takes up as much space as 45 days of continuous music in MP3 format. like a Mount Everest of mathematical structures said Brian Conrey, director of the institute.

The calculation does not have any obvious practical applications but could help advance theoretical physics and geometry, researchers said. Big math problem is solved.