City to Settle Stun Gun Suit for $300,000

The City of Huntington Beach agreed Tuesday to pay $300,000 to five men who sued the city and 23 of its police officers for allegedly torturing them with stun guns.

The settlement came on the day that the trial was to begin in the $25-million civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The agreement also followed findings announced two weeks ago by the Orange County district attorney’s office that its 11-month investigation had found “insufficient evidence” to prove any criminal wrongdoing by the officers, including excessive force. The inquiry was requested both by the plaintiffs and the city.

An FBI investigation is still pending.

Each of the plaintiffs will receive $60,000 as a result of Tuesday’s settlement, Huntington Beach Mayor John Erskine said.

The seven-member City Council was advised by its lawyer to seek a settlement “in the ballpark” of the final payment figure, Erskine said.

“The council felt that we need to cut our losses and avoid the potential of attorneys’ fees and the cost of the trial, and the possibility of a judgment against us,” Erskine said. He estimated that the city’s trial costs--including officers’ time--would be at least $50,000.

Tom Feeley, the defense lawyer contracted by the city attorney’s office to represent Huntington Beach in the lawsuit, and Marc Block, the lawyer for the five plaintiffs, were unavailable late Tuesday.

Erskine said Feeley believed that the city might be exposing itself to financial risk because of some factors that had little if anything to do with the evidence, not the least of which was a Dec. 10 jury verdict that found two Huntington Park policemen guilty of torturing a teen-ager to obtain a confession.

Concern over possible confusion about the cities’ similar-sounding names, most people’s fear of electricity and “the potential inflammatory effect on jurors” of demonstrating the electronic device in the courtroom were factors that influenced the decision to settle, Erskine said.

Police Chief Grover Payne, who was a captain when the alleged civil rights violations occurred, was en route to Big Bear Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. He left word with Sgt. Monty McKennon that he was disappointed by the settlement and felt that “a judge and jury should have decided the case.”

He has said his officers were justified in using the force they did, given the combativeness of the five men arrested. Four of the men who sued the city live in Huntington Beach and were jolted by the 40,000-volt device while in the city jail. The fifth was a Reseda juvenile, who was stunned with the gun last summer near the beach.