Settlement Is Brewing in Gates Gun Permit Case

Settlement talks are under way that might spare Sheriff Brad Gates the possibility of paying additional damages out of his own pocket to two private investigators who won a $246,000 verdict against the Sheriff’s Department in a lawsuit challenging the way Gates issues gun permits.

A second phase of the case to determine whether the sheriff should pay punitive damages to Frank Ritter and his brother, Ty, was scheduled to begin today before U.S. District Judge William P. Gray.

But settlement negotiations, which have been going on for several weeks, prompted a delay in the hearings at least until Tuesday. Attorneys for both sides declined to comment on the terms of any possible agreement, except to say that a decision whether to resolve the case might be reached by Friday.

If the case is settled, the county will automatically pay the judgment and the Board of Supervisors will no longer have to make a politically tough decision whether to let the county assume payment of any punitive damages assessed against Gates.

Also, the sheriff will not have to disclose his personal finances and extensive real estate portfolio in court nor face the political liability of being punished personally for violating the constitutional rights of the Ritters.

If the case is not settled, the Ritters’ attorney, Meir J. Westreich, said he will ask the jury to award his clients upward of $500,000 in punitive damages. Gates’ lawyer, Eric L. Dobberteen, contends that such damages are not deserved because Gates was acting in his official capacity as sheriff.

To end the case, the Ritters want substantially more than the $246,000 and their legal fees, which are paid by the losing side in a federal civil rights case. Westreich says he will seek upward of $200,000 for his services.

On Sept. 28, a federal jury awarded the brothers compensatory damages and found that Gates showed “malice or reckless disregard” for the Ritters’ constitutional rights, which qualified him for the possibility of punitive damages.

The brothers were denied the right to carry a concealed weapon six times in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They alleged that Gates discriminated against them because they were private investigators and oversaw a process that improperly issued gun permits to political backers, prominent citizens and wealthy business people.

Jurors found that Gates discriminated against the Ritters as private investigators, but decided that their failure to support the sheriff politically did not affect their gun permit applications.

Lawyers for both sides met with Gray to discuss a potential agreement Tuesday afternoon and obtained a postponement of further proceedings. They said only that there were “many things to be worked out.”

In the morning, the sheriff discussed the lawsuit in private with members of the County Board of Supervisors. It is customary for discussions involving lawsuits against the county to be held in confidence.

“I am not at liberty to discuss anything that goes on in a closed session,” said Supervisor Don R. Roth. Supervisor Thomas F. Riley also declined to comment on the meeting.