CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY : Charges Against One Deputy Dropped in Civil Rights Case

Civil rights abuse charges were dismissed Friday against one of six San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies accused of brutality in the alleged beatings of five Mexican nationals in 1988. U.S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima removed Deputy Michael Stout at the request of the lawyer for the deputies. Attorney Stephen Yagman, who represents the five plaintiffs, said the civil rights allegations against Stout were dismissed because the officer played only a minor role in the alleged beatings on June 30, 1988, in Victorville. “He got to the scene late,” Yagman said. “He was also the nicest one on the (witness) stand.” The alleged beatings occurred when deputies arrived to investigate a complaint about a loud, all-night party. A neighbor’s videotape of the arrests, showing the alleged beatings, has become the trial’s centerpiece.