A state appeals court panel Tuesday ordered a man’s murder conviction to be vacated in connection with a Los Angeles Police Department officer’s shooting death nearly 27 years ago.

The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal agreed with the defense’s contention that there is insufficient evidence that Jaime “Alex” Mares, now 48, aided and abetted fellow gang member Oscar Zatarain — the gunman — in the Nov. 29, 1998, killing of LAPD Officer Brian Brown after an earlier shooting that left an 18-year-old man dead and a police pursuit that ended near a Culver City shopping mall.

Brown — whose seatbelt was still on and whose gun was still holstered — was fatally shot in the head by Zatarain, who was shot and killed in a gunfight with other police officers. The offic

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