RICO Suit Over City ‘Speed Trap’ Dismissed : Litigation: Lawyer who asserted that Huntington Beach was acting as a ‘racketeer’ says he will appeal the federal court ruling.

A federal judge Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed against Huntington Beach by a lawyer who accused the city of being a “racketeer” because it “extorted” money from drivers through an alleged speed trap on Pacific Coast Highway.

Ernest J. Franceschi Jr., who filed the suit seeking $60 million from Huntington Beach, said he will appeal. “This case may end up going to the (U.S.) Supreme Court,” the Los Angeles lawyer said.

Franceschi, 33, sued the city last year after he was stopped three times for speeding on Pacific Coast Highway. The class-action suit was filed on behalf of all drivers who had been fined because of the city’s alleged speed trap.

The suit charged that the city was, in effect, extorting money from drivers by operating an illegal speed trap. It claimed the city therefore violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations , or RICO, law.

The RICO law was passed by Congress to combat organized crime, but it since has been expanded into numerous other legal uses.

Franceschi’s novel suit was believed to be the first time a city had been accused of being a “racketeer” under the federal law. The case thus drew national media attention.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled Thursday in Los Angeles that “Mr. Franceschi’s theory of this case, while superficially plausible, revealed multiple cracks in its foundation upon a closer inspection.”

The judge added, “There is just no RICO class action to be found between the lines of the speed-trap law.”

City Atty. Gail Hutton said, “We are very pleased.”

Wilson’s ruling absolved not only the city but the other defendants in the suit, including Police Chief Ronald Lowenberg and Orange County Municipal Court.

Wilson ruled that no extortion was involved in the alleged speed trap. He also ruled that the city of Huntington Beach was immune from punitive damages as provided for in the RICO law. He cited a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said cities “enjoy a common-law immunity from punitive damages.”

The reason for that is clear, the judge said. The onus of punitive damages paid by a city “will not punish the wrongdoer but will instead be placed on the shoulders of unsuspecting and innocent taxpayers.”

If the judge had ruled in Franceschi’s favor, Huntington Beach’s city government would have been thrown into financial chaos. The city is currently reeling from budget problems because of the recession.

Franceschi said outside of court said that he disagrees with the judge’s ruling that a city cannot be made to pay punitive damages.

“When Congress passed the RICO law, it put no exemptions in there,” Franceschi said.

Franceschi said the city has already, in effect, admitted it was operating a speed trap, as defined by California law.

State law does not allow police to use radar to enforce a speed limit below 55 m.p.h. without having made a traffic and engineering survey of road conditions within the past five years. If such timely surveys are not made, state law says that a speed trap exists and that citations of motorists are invalid.

Franceschi had three speeding citations dismissed in Orange County courts after he proved that Huntington Beach had not updated its last traffic and engineering survey for at least 10 years.

The city thus was forced to admit that it had operated a speed trap, as defined by state law.

Last December, Deputy Huntington Beach City Atty. Robert Sangster said, “I think for a period of time it is undisputed that a speed trap, as defined by the (state) Vehicle Code, existed on portions of the highway.” But Sangster noted that the city has since updated its traffic and engineering survey to comply with state law governing radar use.

Franceschi on Thursday noted that the city only acted to update its survey after he filed his lawsuit. And he said he thinks the legal issues he raised are still alive.

“There are some interesting points of law to be settled here,” Franceschi said. “I definitely am going to appeal.”