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Villaraigosa: No Regrets For Pro-LAPD Stance

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The Los Angeles mayor is defending himself
against critics who allege he acted prematurely by saying police
acted appropriately in the killing of an armed Guatemalan
immigrant.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Friday said he stood by remarks he
made a day earlier that he believed the officers were heroes and an
investigation would show they acted properly.

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James Lafferty, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild,
says the mayor had prejudged the outcome of the investigation into
Sunday's shooting of Manuel Jaminez. Police say Jaminez was
threatening people with a knife and ignored orders to drop the
weapon.

"The guild is disgusted as a bar association that the mayor, who is
himself a lawyer, would see fit -- before there has been any investigation at
all, not having been on the scene himself and with all sorts of mixed reports
on what may or may not have happened -- to issue a statement proclaiming in
advance that when this investigation is finished, he is confident of what the
outcome will be, he's confident that Mr. Frank Hernandez (the officer who shot
Jamines) will be called a hero," Lafferty said.

Lafferty acknowledges some community members also have prejudged
the case by calling police Chief Charlie Beck a murderer. However,
Lafferty says officials should be held to a higher standard.
The mayor denies prejudging any investigation, and says he believes his comments are "irrelevant" to the investigation.

(TM and © Copyright 2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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