Man Given 2nd Chance on Eavesdropping Charge

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has set aside an $8,000 civil judgment against a Torrance man and said he will give the man a second chance to prove that he did not illegally eavesdrop on neighbors who he suspected were operating a drug lab.

When Phill Coleman returns to court Dec. 8, he will attempt to persuade Judge Harvey A. Schneider that he was a good Samaritan reporting suspected drug activity and that he did not invade his neighbors’ privacy.

Schneider had ordered the $8,000 judgment against Coleman on Sept. 7 after finding that he eavesdropped on confidential conversations between his neighbors, David D. and Elizabeth C. Blanco.

Torrance police allegedly found 30 grams of cocaine and “a quantity of methamphetamine” in 1985 after they raided the Blanco apartment while acting on a tip from Coleman. But criminal charges against the couple were dismissed after a judge ruled that the police did not have a proper warrant to search the apartment.

The Blancos subsequently sued Coleman, saying that their neighbor had spied on them, eavesdropped and tapped their phone. Schneider sustained the eavesdropping allegation but rejected the other accusations.