Immunity to Be Fought for Dalton Case Figure

A prosecutor in the Dalton Avenue police vandalism case said Wednesday he will fight a grant of immunity to a detective who balked at taking the stand again after learning he was under investigation for perjury in the case.

It was unclear what effect the refusal to testify by Detective Robert Clark, who obtained the search warrant that led to the raid, would have on the case against his three police colleagues on trial. But the prosecutor acknowledged it has caused “some problems.”

Both the district attorney’s office and the police Internal Affairs Division are investigating whether Clark may have perjured himself when he produced a photo of anti-police gang graffiti he said he took a month before the Aug. 1, 1988, raid on apartments at 39th Street and Dalton Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles. Police have claimed the officers who wielded axes and battering rams during the raid had been threatened by the residents.