MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN has some exclusive new information on the Los Angeles Police Department corruption trial and what might have prevented a key witness from terrifying. It involves allegations of sex, lies and corruption. CNN's Charles Feldman reports.</s>CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN has learned that the former mistress of Raphael Perez (ph), the key figure in the scandal, has told FBI agents that an LAPD officer knowingly encouraged her to tell federal officials a fabricated story that may have had an enormous impact on the very first trial of allegedly corrupt cops. This woman, Sonia Flores, first emerged shortly before that trial got under way, a trial in which her ex-lover was slated to take the witness stand. She told federal authorities that Perez and a partner had taken part in three murders, burying the bodies in Mexico. That revelation, which forced the excavation of the Tijuana site, also made it impossible for prosecutors to call Perez to the witness stand, weakening their case. But then, Sonia Flores admitted she made the whole story up, she said, to get back at her ex-lover. Flores pleaded guilty to lying to the Feds and now faces a prison sentence. But authorities wanted to know if someone put her up to the whole thing. The FBI, having once been burned by Flores, now wants to question her further and they want to talk to the LAPD officer who allegedly told Flores to lie to federal officials. A spokeswoman for the LAPD says it welcomes an investigation by the FBI to clear its officer and cautions that everyone should be highly suspect of anything Sonia Flores has to say. Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.
Key Figure in LAPD Corruption Scandal Changes Story