City’s $400,000 Settlement Brings Hope to Homeless : Litigation: The council decision to pay wrapped up civil rights suits filed after arrests at the Santa Ana Civic Center last year.

Their eyes filled with hope Tuesday as they spoke of the future.

In one day, 30 homeless people had gone from a life of despair to one of promise--made possible by the City Council’s decision Monday night to pay them a total of $400,000 to settle civil rights lawsuits stemming from their arrests at the Civic Center last year.

One man vowed to give some of his money to the charitable organizations that had given him food and shelter while he lived on the streets. Another looked forward to getting cleaned up and buying new clothes.

About two dozen of those who will share in the settlement gathered Tuesday at the offices of the Legal Aid Society of Orange County to learn more details. Most of them said they would look for jobs.

Nine who agreed to be interviewed said they know the money will not make them millionaires but they hope it will give them what few people get in life--a second chance.

“I want to show the people here that the people on the street . . . all they need is an opportunity,” said a 46-year-old man who asked not to be identified out of fear that publicity surrounding the case might prompt robberies. “I am an example of one who is going to make it.”

He pulled out of his wallet a yellowing newspaper article about an infant killed in a Fullerton fire earlier this year.

“That was my grandson,” he said, saddened that he had not taken care of his family when it needed him. But now that he has “this little bit of change,” he added, he will set up an education fund for his three remaining grandchildren.

“I am happy I will be off the street for once,” said Gregory Smith, 32, who has been homeless for the last 18 months. “It’s hard to get a job when you don’t have an address or telephone number.”

Joe Arias, 20, said he had recently kicked a cocaine habit and was now hoping to return to Oregon to be with his family.

Never again, they hoped, would they be subjected to the treatment they received last summer when city police arrested more than 60 homeless people on minor charges ranging from jaywalking to littering.

In lawsuits filed last month, the plaintiffs claimed their civil rights were violated during the police sweeps of the Civic Center. Those arrested were taken to Santa Ana Stadium, where their forearms were stamped with red identification numbers. They were held for several hours before being released.

When the city attempted to press charges, Municipal Judge B. Tam Nomoto threw the case out of court and declared that the city’s actions had been illegal and discriminatory.

As part of an agreement the plaintiffs made among themselves, 28 will receive $11,000 checks from the city on Friday. Another two who claimed they were roughed up by police will received $22,250.

Nonprofit legal centers that participated in the lawsuit will receive 10% of the total award as part of the plan. Each plaintiff also will donate $250 in order to give a homeless woman an equal share of the settlement.

The woman, suffering from cancer, had earlier accepted a $5,000 settlement from the city.

City officials conceded that they settled the case because it would have cost too much to take it to court. The city estimated that its own legal costs would have totaled $450,000, excluding legal fees it would have had to pay to the plaintiffs’ lawyers if the city had lost the case.

“I think it’s great,” said plaintiff Paul Paiva, 41. “I think justice has been served.”

The plaintiffs remained cognizant of the fact that until they receive their checks at the end of the week, they are still street people.

When one worried that he might have troubling cashing his check because his wallet and identification card were recently stolen, a woman joked, “If you get arrested between now and Friday, they (police) will take your picture.”

They also expressed fear of being robbed or killed.

Domingo M. Sanchez, 32, said he hopes to get rid of the shopping cart that holds his belongings and move to a new city where no one knows him.

“A lot of people will notice that we have won this money and it’s dangerous,” he said.

After being stabbed several times on the street, Charles London, 33, said he has also decided to leave Santa Ana.

“It’s just bad times for me and it’s time for me to leave,” he said. “I am really looking forward to Friday, and I hope I live these two days so that I can get out of here.”

One of the plaintiffs, Clemente Ruiz, 32, did not live to see the settlement. He was fatally shot in the head last week by an unknown attacker, a lawyer connected with the case said.