SIMI VALLEY : Officer Harassed Activist, Jury Rules

A U.S. District Court jury has decided in favor of a Simi Valley slow-growth advocate who accused a local police officer of harassing him in 1986.

The Los Angeles jury found on Monday that Simi Valley Police Officer Herman Hale had violated the civil rights of Edward Sloman, 53, Simi Valley City Atty. John Torrance said.

Sloman’s suit grew out of his arrest by Hale on Oct. 19, 1986. The arrest occurred during a campaign battle between slow- and pro-growth advocates pushing competing ballot measures for growth control in the city. Sloman was head of a slow-growth group that campaigned for the more restrictive measures, while the city sponsored less restrictive initiatives that were eventually approved by voters.

Hale arrested Sloman during a Chamber of Commerce auto show at a public park, where Sloman appeared carrying a sign advertising his group’s ballot measures, Sloman said Tuesday. The Chamber of Commerce supported the city-sponsored ballot measures, he said.

Torrance said Hale was obligated to take Sloman into custody after one of the workers at the auto show placed Sloman under citizen’s arrest for trespassing. State law requires police officers to arrest an individual who is placed under citizen’s arrest, Torrance said.

But Sloman contended that Hale orchestrated the citizen’s arrest as a ploy to get him and his sign away from the auto show, said Edward M. Fox, Sloman’s attorney. Police Lt. Neal Rein was with Hale at the auto show and was also named in Sloman’s lawsuit. But the federal jury found that Rein did not violate Sloman’s civil rights.

The same federal jury will decide on Feb. 12 whether the city and the Police Department are liable for Hale’s actions, Fox said.