Picus Ordered to Blunt Attacks in Warner Ridge Suit Testimony

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus was reprimanded Tuesday by a judge who ordered her to be more cooperative and less abusive while giving testimony in connection with a lawsuit against the city filed by the would-be developers of Warner Ridge.

Superior Court Judge Kathryn Doi Todd issued the order at the request of attorneys for the Warner Ridge developers, who complained that Picus was abusive and quarrelsome at her deposition Saturday.

According to a transcript of the pretrial session, Picus called the attorneys for Warner Ridge “obnoxious” and “greedy” and prematurely ended her testimony by walking out of the session.

The transcript indicates that Picus left the session angry and frustrated with questions about a 1978 letter that she wrote to her constituents explaining her position on the development of Warner Ridge.

Picus said Tuesday that her decision to walk out of the deposition was “a bit like hanging up the phone on an annoying person” and that she did not regret it.

She said attorneys for Warner Ridge were “deliberately harassing me” with questions. Picus has already provided six days of testimony in the case, and is scheduled to give three more.

In their request for the order, the Warner Ridge attorneys denied harassing Picus but said they repeatedly tried to have her clarify her responses to a question concerning her past positions on the project.

“Such obstructionism threatens plaintiff’s ability to get essential evidence necessary for its case and plaintiff has no choice but to seek the court’s help,” Warner Ridge attorney Robert McMurry argued in a written motion asking Dodd for relief.

Warner Ridge is a 21.5-acre parcel in Woodland Hills owned by an investor group consisting of the Spound Co. and Johnson Wax Development Co.

The developers have sued the city, claiming a January, 1990, City Council decision to zone their land for residential development violated state zoning and environmental laws and also destroyed the value of the property. The Warner Ridge group had sought to develop 800,000 square feet of office buildings on the site.

In her order, Todd issued six separate directives to Picus, including warnings that she “refrain from personal and abusive remarks” and that she attend “to conclusion” future depositions and “answer all proper questions . . . as necessary to complete the deposition.”