SIMI VALLEY : Civil Rights Case Could Cost $436,000

The city of Simi Valley has spent about $136,000 to defend a police officer who was recently found to have harassed a slow-growth demonstrator, and it could end up forking over another $300,000, officials said Tuesday.

Edward M. Fox, the attorney for activist Edward Sloman, said his client will ask the jury for at least $150,000 to cover attorney fees and another $150,000 in damages. City Atty. John Torrance confirmed that the city could be held liable for damages and legal fees on behalf of Officer Herman Hale.

Last week, a U.S. District Court jury in Los Angeles found that Hale had violated Sloman’s civil rights when he arrested Sloman in 1986.

Hale arrested Sloman at a Chamber of Commerce auto show at a public park, where Sloman carried a sign advertising his support for a slow-growth ballot measure. The chamber at the time was supporting a less restrictive measure.

A worker at the auto show placed Sloman under citizen’s arrest on suspicion of trespassing. State law requires a police officer to arrest an individual who has been placed under citizen’s arrest, Torrance said. But Sloman contended in his lawsuit that Hale had orchestrated his arrest as a ploy to get him and his sign away from the auto show.

The federal jury will decide Feb. 12 if the city and the Police Department should be held liable for damages.

Mayor Greg Stratton said that whatever the outcome, the city is considering filing an appeal. “We happen to believe that the police officer was just doing his job,” he said. “As the guy says, it’s not over until it’s over.”

But Sloman said that if the city appeals the court decision, it will end up costing the city even more.

“We’re only going to delay the inevitable as far as I’m concerned,” Sloman said. “I know I’m right.”