County Agrees to Settle Suit Against Gates

Just two weeks before a federal trial was to begin in a lawsuit accusing Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates of using his office to harass his political opponents, the sheriff and county officials agreed Thursday to settle the case for $375,000.

The money will be paid to the plaintiffs, former Central Municipal Court Judge Bobby D. Youngblood and private investigator George Pat Bland, who had sued Gates and the county three years ago. Youngblood left office last year to run against the incumbent sheriff, but he was soundly defeated. Bland had run against Gates in 1982 but received few votes.

Orange County risk management director John L. Oskins Jr. called the settlement a “compromise” that in no way implied any guilt on Gates’ part.

But Youngblood said Thursday that “it shows all concerned we were not blowing smoke . . . we were telling the truth.” He added that he was happy with the settlement.

Wants to Be Left Alone

“You don’t pay someone $375,000 when you’re right,” Youngblood said. “I wanted to show everybody what (Gates) was doing, which I did, and I wanted him to leave me alone, which I think he will.”

Youngblood’s attorney, Michael J. Cisarik, said attorneys for Gates and the county approached him last Friday and asked what it would take to settle the case.

“We said 375 (thousand dollars), and they said, ‘You got it,’ ” Cisarik said.

The attorney disputed the contention that the county was simply offering a compromise solution.

“I think they settled because it would have been too embarrassing to see our evidence at a trial.”

Youngblood was highly critical of Gates in the early 1980s over Gates’ operation of the Orange County Jail. But at the same time, Youngblood also was under investigation by Gates and the Orange County district attorney’s office in a case that went before the county grand jury. No indictments were ever issued and no details of the investigation were ever released.

Youngblood says there was never any reason to investigate him and that Gates simply was harassing him and Bland, who was working with Youngblood, because they were political opponents of the sheriff.

But Oskins, of the county’s risk management division, said Thursday that “we thought we had a defensible case. We wouldn’t have put this many years into litigation of this lawsuit if we didn’t.”

Youngblood and Bland claimed in the lawsuit that Gates had violated their civil rights by “intensive surveillance and monitoring” of their activities.

In December of 1985, a federal magistrate said Gates’ criminal investigation of Youngblood “may have bordered on over-zealousness and the plaintiffs’ civil rights may have been violated.”

The magistrate, Ralph J. Geffen, made the comment in ordering that files accumulated by Gates in his criminal probe of Youngblood be turned over to the judge for review in his civil lawsuit against Gates.

Judge Denied Request

Oskins said county attorneys became more concerned about settling two weeks ago when U.S. District Judge John G. Davies refused their request to throw out 14 major issues raised by Youngblood.

“We realized then that it was going to be a lengthy trial,” Oskins said.

Oskins said the Youngblood case has cost the county about $400,000 so far. The trial, he predicted, would have cost at least $200,000 more.

“When you weigh in the fact that you could have a verdict against you, and you would have to pay (the other side’s) attorney fees on top of that, it’s the feeling by the county (that) this is a wise move,” Oskins said.

Also, he said, Judge Davies came up with his own figure in suggesting a settlement. While it was nowhere near a seven-figure settlement suggested by the plaintiffs, Oskins said, Davies’ suggestion was one of the factors weighed by the county in deciding to settle.

Oskins added that the county was not anxious to have the issues aired in public at a trial. But he said this was not a major consideration and that he was not implying any wrongdoing by Gates.

The Board of Supervisors tentatively agreed to the settlement in a closed session Tuesday. The issue went before the county’s Claims Settlement Committee, where it was approved Thursday.

Supervisor Donald R. Roth said Thursday that the board agreed to the settlement strictly on the advice of attorneys and that none of them placed any blame on Gates.

“It was made very clear to me when I agreed to a settlement that we were in no way admitting we thought the sheriff had done anything wrong,” Roth said. “The only issue was: What was the best economic solution for the taxpayers?”

Attorney Fees Included

The settlement will be paid out of the county’s self-insurance fund, Oskins said.

The settlement included the plaintiffs’ attorney fees. Cisarik said that after the costs of preparing for trial are deducted, he and “all parties involved”--meaning Youngblood, Bland and perhaps others who participated in the suit--will divide the settlement equally. Cisarik said they all had agreed on that formula from the beginning.

Sheriff Gates declined Thursday to discuss the settlement, according to his spokesman, Lt. Richard Olson. But Oskins said Gates was “very much in agreement” with what the county wanted to do.

Gates refused to acknowledge Youngblood publicly in their election battle last June, when Youngblood received just 17% of the vote to 64% for Gates. He also has declined to discuss Youngblood’s accusations against him, claiming he could not because Youngblood was still involved as a participant in an ongoing investigation.

Stormy Term

Youngblood had a stormy term on the Municipal Court bench. He went through bankruptcy after what he called poor financial advice. He also was censured by the state Supreme Court for jailing an elderly doctor who had criticized one of his decisions in a small-claims case. Youngblood also admitted that he was an alcoholic who had made judgmental mistakes on the bench before he became a non-drinker.

Youngblood recently returned to Orange County, after six months in the Canary Islands, to open his own law practice in Santa Ana.

He said Thursday that he doesn’t plan to continue any battle with Gates. But in a news release announcing his return to Orange County, Youngblood said, “After years of harassment and spurious investigations of me by the sheriff and his friends, I find that there is little left that is intimidating to me.”