Widow Can Continue Husband’s Lawsuit on His Daughter’s Death

A federal judge ruled Monday that an Iowa woman can substitute for her deceased husband in a lawsuit he filed that accuses three Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies of killing his daughter in Van Nuys.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer in Los Angeles gave new life to a $10-million wrongful-death suit filed in April, 1988, by Edward Postma of Newton, Iowa.

Postma charged that the deputies were responsible for the death of his daughter, Catherine Braley, who was found beaten and strangled Jan. 15, 1988 , after a night of drinking at a Van Nuys bar where the deputies had gone after a funeral.

No arrest has ever been made in Braley’s slaying , and the deputies have denied any wrongdoing or involvement in the killing.

The lawsuit was put on hold in November when it was discovered that Postma died a few months after filing the suit and attorneys for the deputies questioned whether he was Braley’s actual father.

On Monday, Pfaelzer ruled that Edward Postma was Braley’s natural father and that his second wife, Linda Postma--who is not Braley’s mother--could continue the suit because she is his heir. Pfaelzer set a trial date of March 26, 1991.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives have repeatedly said the three deputies accused in the lawsuit--Robert Mallon, Robert Waters and Mike Turner--are not suspects.

Mallon said in a deposition taken for the lawsuit that he and Braley drank heavily in the bar, left together and had consensual sex in his car, but that she then walked away unharmed. She was found dead the next day about a block away in a parking lot in the 8100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard.

Last year, Pfaelzer dismissed a civil rights claim in Edward Postma’s suit that charged that the deputies had acted in their capacity as law officers in killing Braley. However, the judge allowed a wrongful-death claim to proceed.

Pfaelzer also dismissed a similar suit filed by Braley’s mother, Mary Postma of Van Nuys, saying it should have been filed in a state court. Linda Postma’s suit is being heard in a federal court because the parties are from different states.

Stephen Yagman, an attorney representing Linda Postma, said after Monday’s ruling that the trial would determine who killed Braley.

“Circumstantial evidence indicates Mallon murdered Catherine Braley and that it was Waters and Turner that helped make that murder possible,” Yagman said.

Anthony P. Serritella, an attorney for the deputies, said Yagman was only seeking publicity with the lawsuit.

“This case is without any merit whatsoever,” Serritella said.