Lawsuit accuses LAPD officer of selling celebrity data

LOS ANGELES (AP) A Los Angeles police officer used department computers to access confidential law enforcement records of celebrities and sold the information to tabloids, according to a lawsuit recently settled by the city.

Officer Kelly Chrisman has acknowledged looking up the information, according to internal Los Angeles Police Department records, but said he did so at the direction of his superiors. His attorney, Christopher Darden, said the 13-year veteran never sold the information to anyone.

``There's really nothing in those records to sell to tabloids,'' Darden said. ``He didn't do it. That's that.''

The lawsuit prompted the Police Department to launch its own investigation, which the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday turned up ``hundreds of hits'' on the names of famous people, including Jennifer Aniston, Mickey Rourke, Pamela Anderson, Lara Flynn Boyle, Kim Delaney, Peter Horton, Dylan McDermott and Nicole Brown Simpson.

Between 1994 and 2000 Chrisman also accessed computer files on such celebrities as Sharon Stone, Sean Penn, Meg Ryan, Kobe Bryant, O.J. Simpson, Larry King, Drew Barrymore, Cindy Crawford, and Halle Berry, according to internal Police Department documents.

The lawsuit, filed by Chrisman's former girlfriend, said the 34-year-old officer collected the data for personal financial gain, but police investigators said they could not confirm that.

``We just don't know,'' Deputy Chief James McMurray said.

In March, the city paid $387,500 to settle the suit by Chrisman's ex-girlfriend Cyndy Truhan, who is also the ex-wife of former Los Angeles Dodgers star Steve Garvey. Truhan's lawsuit claimed Chrisman secretly used police computers to investigate her along with hundreds of other people and made a substantial side income by selling the information to supermarket tabloids.

Unauthorized use of police databases is a violation of federal and state laws, as well as Los Angeles Police Department regulations, and Chrisman has been placed on home duty, similar to paid leave, while the allegations are investigated.

Meanwhile, officials expressed concern the case could lead to other lawsuits.

``How many other situations do we have like this?'' asked City Councilman Dennis Zine. ``How does this go unchecked? We're spending almost $400,000 of taxpayer money on this one suit, and God knows how many more will come down the line.''

Personal information available on the department's computer system includes criminal histories, birth dates, driving records, ownership of vehicles, physical descriptions, Social Security numbers, restraining orders and, in some cases, unlisted phone numbers.

Chrisman told department investigators he looked up the names of celebrities after he was ordered to compile a locator map of VIP residences on the city's West Side.

Retired police Lt. Frank Spangler told a department hearing board he asked Chrisman in late 1995 to study creating such a computerized map so officers responding to emergencies would know if the addresses belonged to high-profile people. He said Chrisman told him about a year later he had abandoned the project because the department's computer software couldn't handle it.

Chrisman told investigators he looked up names that just came to mind, as well as those he found on one of the maps to movie stars' homes that Sunset Boulevard vendors sell to tourists.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)