$11.3 Million Paid in 1990 to Resolve Police Abuse Cases

The city of Los Angeles paid a record $11.3 million last year--more than any other major city, except Detroit--to resolve lawsuits alleging police misconduct such as excessive force and false arrest, records and interviews show.

Los Angeles, with 8,300 police officers, recorded slightly higher legal payouts than New York City, which has three times that many officers. The city spent nearly twice as much on police-related litigation as Chicago, which has about 4,000 more officers than Los Angeles.

Detroit, with half as many police officers as Los Angeles, led the nation with $20 million in police-related payouts last year, The Times found.

The jury awards and settlements in Los Angeles averaged more than $350,000, much higher than those in most other cities, records show. The city paid nearly $8 million on four of the 32 police suits cleared last year, including $3.2 million for suits arising from a controversial drug raid on apartments at 39th Street and Dalton Avenue.

“Lawsuits against government . . . have increased enormously,” Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates told the City Council last week. “Quite frankly there is a lottery mentality among juries now coming down with huge judgments. . . . I think that we have done a fine job, not that we can’t do a better job.”

After the beating of Rodney G. King early this month, federal and city officials began studying lawsuits against the Police Department to determine whether the incident is part of a pattern of excessive force against private citizens. The Justice Department is reviewing about 100 lawsuits while conducting a broader investigation into the conduct of Los Angeles officers. And the City Council is examining lawsuits dating back five years.

In addition, Mayor Tom Bradley on Thursday asked the Police Commission to examine suits and the department’s disciplinary practices “to see if the conduct of the department’s leaders allows some officers to feel if they are above the law.”

“It is clear from the Rodney King videotape and the number of lawsuits in the last five years that some officers feel that way,” the mayor said in a statement issued in response to a Times inquiry. “It frustrates me to learn when the city is held responsible for paying a settlement in one of these cases.”

Council members have raised questions about the rising cost of police-related litigation, which city attorney records show has climbed from less than $1 million in 1980 to $9.1 million last year, plus interest and fees for plaintiffs’ lawyers. The council also wants to determine whether racism is a factor in the excessive force cases and whether officers involved in costly lawsuits have been disciplined.

“In most companies if you make an error that costs a company that much, you would be fired,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who heads the Budget and Finance Committee. “It’s outrageous the amount of money we are shelling out.”

Last year, lawsuits against police represented more than 40% of the $25 million in city payouts for civil suits, according to the city attorney’s office. A decade ago, the portion was 25%.

New York spent $10.6 million over the last fiscal year to clear 267 suits against officers in the 26,000-member department, said attorney Len Olarsch, who heads New York’s litigation division.

A Brooklyn jury awarded $76 million to two men who were shot at and beaten by five officers before being charged with attempted murder. Because that case is on appeal, the award--believed to be the highest in the nation last year--was not included in New York City statistics, Olarsch said.

In Chicago, the nation’s third most populous city behind New York and Los Angeles, a spokeswoman for the city’s law department said the cost of 170 settlements and judgments from police-related lawsuits last year was about $5.9 million.

In recent years, Detroit, the seventh most populous city, has averaged about $10 million a year in payouts for suits against police--roughly the same as New York. But officials said that the amount increased to $20 million in 1990.

Detroit City Councilman Mel Ravitz, who compiled the figures, said the $20 million represented 200 payouts stemming from the “misbehavior of a relatively small number of police officers.” City officials said Thursday that they could not explain why the total was nearly double that of previous annual figures, but they noted that Wayne County juries have a history of giving high awards.

Phil Shiner, Los Angeles assistant city attorney, was surprised that the city’s payouts in 1990 were higher than most other cities, but he cautioned against drawing a conclusion that police misconduct is occurring more frequently here.

“Maybe if we had 26,000 officers (like New York City), the police would get better compliance from suspects and maybe if we had 26,000 officers we wouldn’t be spending the large amounts we do on lawsuits,” Shiner said.

The police totals include suits alleging excessive force, false arrests, wrongful deaths, civil rights violations, negligence and other misconduct, but not routine traffic accidents. Of the 32 cases in which the city made payouts last year, eight involved police shootings and 13 suits alleged excessive physical force such as beatings.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department last year resolved 131 lawsuits at a cost of about $5.4 million, said Robert Ambrose, assistant county counsel, who noted that two shooting cases accounted for $1.5 million.

The increasing cost of police litigation in the city of Los Angeles can be traced to a change in attitude on the part of jurors, said Richard M. Helgeson, an assistant city attorney in charge of appeals.

“If you trip and fall and break your arm, a jury might award you $35,000, but if your arm is broken by a police officer putting handcuffs on you, you can bet it’s a six-figure settlement,” he said. “The jury can retaliate.”

Helgeson pointed to the case of Murphy Pierson, a 70-year-old homeowner who last year received a $1.8-million settlement of his suit stemming from a police shooting in 1985.

“Normally, juries don’t award a settlement that high for someone that old . . . it is not like it was a little kid and looking at 50 to 60 years left to live,” Helgeson said. “That jury award was big because they were angry and there was bad judgment on the part of the officers.”

Pierson was wounded by police as he stood, shotgun in hand, on his front porch after he had just chased two drug dealers from his property. Two police officers said Pierson was shot after he ignored repeated warnings to drop his shotgun and pointed the weapon at them. They fired 11 shots, striking Pierson in the right hand, the left buttock and the chest.

“They never gave him a chance to put down the gun,” said attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, who represented Pierson. “They continued firing after Pierson was lying on the porch begging them to stop. Then they pulled his wife out of the house in her housecoat and made her kneel down on the front lawn and handcuffed her and took her to jail.”

Pierson died last year from complications resulting from the shooting, his wife, Katie Pierson, said. “It was only after the shooting that he started having problems,” she said. “We would have been married 50 years.”

In a suit stemming from a 1981 incident, the city paid $1.45 million to Ronnie Melgar, 20, a burglary suspect who was shot while fleeing police and suffered brain damage. Police apparently mistook Melgar’s flashlight for a gun.

A police officer said he chased Melgar on foot from a construction site where it was suspected he was stealing lumber, according to police reports. The police officer said he repeatedly ordered Melgar to halt and fired his weapon only after he thought the suspect was preparing to turn and point a gun at him. The officer’s bullet hit Melgar in the back, causing his lung to collapse and resulting in brain damage. Melgar’s attorney, Barry Litt, said his client ran only after the officer used a racial epithet and threatened to hit Melgar with a baton.

The city also paid $625,000 into a lifetime annuity for two sons of RTD bus driver Danny Smith, 34, who was shot in 1985 by officers who were searching for a suspect in Smith’s back yard. Smith was unarmed, according to a summary of the incident in city Budget and Finance Committee reports. Several police officers went to Danny Smith’s back yard looking for a man who was wanted for receiving stolen merchandise. Smith was shot, the officers said, only after they heard the “cocking of a weapon” and Smith ignored orders to freeze. Smith was shot in the back.

Will Glennon, a legal analyst for the California Trial Lawyers Assn., said the large increases in awards and settlements reported in Los Angeles were not consistent with the trend elsewhere in the state. “Mostly jury awards have been flat,” he said. “If (police-related lawsuits) are showing an increase, then that’s pretty frightening. . . . It’s probably only the tip of the iceberg because police cases are very tough. The cops usually have all the (juror) sympathies on their side.”

As large as payouts were last year, city attorneys said that it will become increasingly difficult to litigate lawsuits involving the police.

Noting that the publicity surrounding the King beating will tend to influence jurors, Assistant Dist. Atty. Richard James said he plans to ask a judge to continue one of his current police cases. “I don’t think a police officer is going to get a fair trial now,” he said.

The city attorney’s office frequently settles civil suits before trial to avoid the possibility of large jury awards and costly litigation.

Most cases that go to trial, however, are won by the city. Out of 78 cases tried last year, the city won 61, officials said. Another 85 cases were settled without trial, sometimes to avoid costly litigation or the possibility of an unfavorable jury verdict.

One of them was a suit over the 1985 police shooting death of Francisco Gutierrez. According to a City Council report, a police officer who shot Gutierrez thought his starter’s pistol was a real gun. But Gutierrez’s family said he did not have a starter’s pistol.

The Budget and Finance Committee recommended council approval of the $35,000 settlement, saying: “A jury possibly might decide that the plaintiff’s version of the facts were true and that the officers shot a man who did not hold a starter pistol, or that there was negligence in the tactical approach which led to the shooting. Such a determination would result in a verdict far in excess of the proposed settlement amount.”

Attorney Cochran, who has handled excessive force cases for three decades, said “the weight of all the cases over the years has sensitized people and raised questions in their minds about whether police always tell the truth.”

Attorney Stephen Yagman, who also handles many police-abuse cases, said he doubts that there has been a significant change in the positive attitudes that jurors have toward the police. “It is very, very difficult to shake,” he said.

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LOS ANGELES POLICE PAYOUTS IN 1990 The city of Los Angeles paid more than $11.3 million in police-related legal settlements and jury awards last year. Following are payouts in excess of $100,000:

PLAINTIFF Onie Palmer REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Damage during drug raid on Dalton Street on Aug. 1, 1988. AMOUNT Settled for $3.2 million

PLAINTIFF Murphy and Katie Pierson REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Wrongful shooting by police officers on May 26, 1985. AMOUNT $2.1-million award settled for $1.8 million

PLAINTIFF Gilbert Amescua REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Personal injury suffered in suicide attempt while in custody on Jan. 20, 1987. AMOUNT Settled for $1.5 million

PLAINTIFF Ronnie Melgar REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Burglary suspect suffered brain damage after being shot while fleeing police on Nov. 18, 1981. AMOUNT Award of $1.5 million settled for $1.45 million

PLAINTIFF Jacoby and Lamonte Smith REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Wrongful shooting death of unarmed man Oct. 10, 1985. AMOUNT Settled for $625,000

PLAINTIFF Paul Hutcherson REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Injury arising from alleged medical mishandling by police officers on Nov. 13, 1978. AMOUNT Settled for $500,000

PLAINTIFF William Foster, Leroy Mims REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Death of two adults and injuries to two juveniles in a traffic accident involving a police pursuit on Jan. 1, 1986. AMOUNT Settled for $350,000

PLAINTIFF Albert Carey, Ollie B. Young REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Wrongful death of purse-snatching suspect killed by probationary police officer who accidentally discharged her firearm on Dec. 14, 1984. AMOUNT Settled for $200,000

PLAINTIFF Laurie Chilcote REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Personal injuries when a criminal suspect’s vehicle struck her during a police pursuit on Nov. 11, 1984. AMOUNT Settled for $185,000

PLAINTIFF Luis Milton Murrales REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Alleged violation of civil rights, false arrest, malicious prosecution and excessive force by a police officer after a traffic violation and police pursuit on April 1, 1988. AMOUNT Settled for $177,500

PLAINTIFF Richard Young REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD False imprisonment, assault and battery and violation of civil rights at Parker Center on May 15, 1984. AMOUNT Award of $205,000 settled for $175,000

PLAINTIFF Karen Kennedy REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD False arrest and illegal strip search in 1983 AMOUNT Award of $138,220

PLAINTIFF Virginia Smith, Vickie Aaron REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Alleged trespassing, battery, and false imprisonment charges arising from execution of a search warrant in 1988. AMOUNT Settled for $133,120

PLAINTIFF Mark Cecil Snodgrass REASON FOR SETTLEMENT OR AWARD Battery by police officers on Sept. 14, 1986. AMOUNT Award of $98,000 settled for $100,000

Note: The total amount of judgments and settlements in 1990 resulting from traffic accidents with police vehicles was $690,070.

Source: City Council Budget and Finance Committee Compiled by Times researcher Cecilia Rasmussen

The Cost of Lawsuits Against Police In the past decade, the costs for jury awards and settlements of lawsuits against the Los Angeles Police Department have soared. In 1990, the figure reached a record $9.1 million, plus another $2.2 million in interest in plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees that the city was ordered to pay. Figures in millions 1980: $891.402 1990: $9,089, 676 Note: Figures do not include plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees paid by the city. Source: City Attorney

POLICE LITIGATION NATIONWIDE The following are total settlements and jury awards paid last year by the 10 most populous U.S. cities to resolve police-related lawsuits:

SWORN CITY POPULATION CASES PAYOUTS OFFICERS New York 7,322,564 267 $10.6 million 26,000 Los Angeles 3,485,398 32 $11.3 million 8,300 Chicago 2,783,726 170 *$5.9 million 12,000 Houston 1,639,553 12 Under $100,000 4,078 Philadelphia 1,585,577 70 ** $3.3 million 6,200 San Diego 1,110,549 730 ***$5.6 million 1,850 Detroit 1,027,974 200 $20 million 4,300 Dallas 1,006,877 3 $3.92 million 2,792 Phoenix 983,403 4 **$48,202 2,046 San Antonio 935,933 28 Under $100,000 1,559

* Figures include some cases on appeal, but exclude fees to plaintiffs’ attorneys.

** Excludes interest and fees paid to plaintiffs’ attorneys.

*** Figures include suits over police-related traffic accidents, including a $3.2-million award.

NOTE: Most figures are for the 1990 calendar year. Those for New York and Philadelphia are compiled by fiscal year. Figures for San Antonio cover a 27-month period.