Panel OKs Settlement of 3 Suits Involving Deputies

A Los Angeles County claims panel on Monday agreed to pay $605,000 to settle three separate lawsuits alleging wrongdoing by sheriff’s deputies.

The County Claims Board took the action to avoid the possibility of greater jury awards. The proposed settlements come as the Sheriff’s Department is undergoing intensive public scrutiny for use of excessive force.

Two of the lawsuits the Claims Board voted to settle involve allegations of excessive force. The third stems from a freeway accident.

In the first case, a man named Roland Robson sustained serious back injuries after a former reserve officer pulled him from a car in West Hollywood in 1989 and struck him several times. The reservist pleaded guilty to a charge of excessive force and was relieved of duty.

Robson incurred $14,484 in medical costs and may require a spinal fusion because of the injuries, according to a summary prepared by the county counsel’s office for the Claims Board. The fact that witnesses supported Robson’s claims would enhance the possibility that a jury verdict could “be considerably higher than the ($75,000) amount of this settlement,” the county counsel reported.

In the second case, Timothy Cundiff, a 35-year-old auto mechanic, was stopped in Carson in 1988 on suspicion of speeding, according to a county counsel report. “While accounts of the occurrence vary, it is clear that the deputy used excessive force in the course of the confrontation and arrest of the plaintiff,” the report said.

Cundiff was hospitalized for injuries to his upper arm and a broken shoulder blade, according to the report. He was awarded $150,000 at arbitration, partly for lost wages. County attorneys asked for a new trial, but recommended settling the case for $135,000 because “ . . . we believe a jury verdict in excess of the proposed settlement is a substantial risk.”

In the third case, the board voted to pay Jean Willhite and her husband, Lynn, $395,000 after a deputy, distracted by a sheriff’s helicopter overhead, took his eyes off the road while driving in the right-hand emergency lane in 1988. He ran into a parked car, caromed across four lanes, and struck the Willhites’ car, according to a county counsel report.

Jean Willhite sustained spinal injuries, a collapsed lung, and a severe concussion that have led to three surgeries and an estimated future wage loss of $240,000.

The board agreed to award the Willhites $395,000. The settlements of more than $100,000 must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.