7 Told to Explain Absence at Depositions in SIS Suit

A federal judge on Monday ordered Los Angeles Police Commissioner Samuel Williams and six former commissioners to explain why they failed to appear for depositions in a civil rights case, attorney Stephen Yagman said.

Yagman is representing a man who was injured and the families of three men killed by members of the Police Department’s controversial Special Investigations Section. The four were slain after they allegedly robbed a McDonald’s restaurant in Sunland last year.

Yagman has labeled the unit a “death squad” and sued the city, those who have served as commissioners since the SIS was created and Police Chief Daryl F. Gates for allegedly maintaining a unit that routinely violates suspects’ civil rights.