Stanton : Ridge Wrongful Death Suit Reset to March 17

Ridge vs. Stanton, a $20-million wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Stanton and a former policeman who accidentally shot and killed a 5-year-old boy, will go to trial March 17.

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday delayed the trial, which had been set to begin Feb. 20, in part because former Officer Anthony Sperl said that his attorney had resigned.

Stephen Yagman of Los Angeles had represented Sperl--who quit his job with the Stanton Police Department shortly after the March 3, 1983, shooting--throughout most of the case.

In a brief afternoon hearing, Sperl told Orange County Superior Court Judge Jerrold S. Oliver: “Mr. Yagman has resigned from the case.”

Sperl, who declined to comment on why Yagman might have done so, said he would represent himself. However, after the hearing, he said that he will hire a new lawyer once he obtains all his records from Yagman.

Patricia A. Ridge, who now lives in Chicago, filed the lawsuit in 1983. It alleges that Sperl and the Stanton Police Department violated her constitutional rights, as well as those of her son, Patrick Andrew Mason, when Sperl broke into their apartment to check on their well-being.

Sperl also has sued the city, as well as two former police supervisors, alleging that he was improperly trained and that the supervisors committed fraud by ordering him to break into the apartment.