A summary of Southern California-related business litigation developments during the past week.

Investors Allege Fraud in Windmill Deal: Eighty-four people who invested in a windmill construction project sued Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., alleging that the brokerage house misled them into purchasing secured limited partnerships in the venture, which has yielded almost no returns. The federal court suit also charges that Zond Systems Inc., which built the windmills in San Gorgonio Pass and Tehachapi, offered the investments in a massive fraud scheme beginning in 1984. Witter, which sold the investments, assured investors that the project would be profitable because energy generated by the windmills could be sold commercially. Witter and Zond showed investors scientific information that purported to prove that the construction zones were in areas prone to wind gusts, and thus the windmills would generate vast amounts of energy, the suit said. The plaintiffs contend that the scientific data was wrong and the windmills need costly modifications. (Case No. 90-4630. Filed Aug. 28)