Federal Court Rejects Appeal of Racketeering Lawsuit : Ruling: Panel says having to sign a speeding ticket or face jail is not extortion by Huntington Beach.

A Los Angeles lawyer who accused Huntington Beach of racketeering because of alleged speed traps has been flagged down by a federal appeals court.

But the lawyer, Ernest J. Franceschi Jr., said Friday that it is only a temporary stop.

“I’m going to ask for a rehearing (by the federal appeals court) or go to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary,” Franceschi said.

Franceschi, who formerly maintained an office in Seal Beach, made national headlines in 1990 when he took Huntington Beach to court. Franceschi charged that he had illegally been trapped by radar three times in Huntington Beach.

And he made a federal case of it.

Franceschi’s novel suit accused Huntington Beach of violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly called the RICO Act. The suit demanded $60 million in traffic court refunds and damages on behalf of Franceschi and all other drivers caught by radar in Huntington Beach since 1981.

In papers filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in 1990, Franceschi argued that Huntington Beach’s use of illegal speed traps constituted extortion. Federal Judge Stephen V. Wilson, who heard the case, said Franceschi’s RICO suit was “superficially plausible.” But Wilson ruled against Franceschi, saying that governments such as the city of Huntington Beach “are immune from RICO liability.”

Franceschi appealed the decision to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena. That court’s decision, made public on Friday, said “Franceschi fails to establish a RICO claim.” The court said it disagreed with Franceschi’s claim that having to sign a speeding citation or face going to jail constituted “extortion” by Huntington Beach police.

The appeals court also disagreed with Franceschi’s contention that his civil rights had been violated.

Deputy City Atty. Robert Sangster said Friday that city officials were pleased to have been vindicated a second time by the federal courts. “The Court of Appeals agreed with the city’s contentions that the RICO Act was not violated,” Sangster said.

But Franceschi, in a telephone interview from his West Los Angeles office, said Friday that he is more determined to pursue the case. He said Wilson’s decision that governments are immune from federal racketeering suits is dangerous.

“I don’t think Congress intended to exempt governments from RICO,” Franceschi said. A Supreme Court appeal is needed to bring governments under RICO.

Franceschi stressed that no judge, not even at the traffic court level, has disagreed with his argument that Huntington Beach was operating an illegal speed trap along part of Pacific Coast Highway from 1981 to 1990. State law forbids use of radar to enforce speed limits lower than 55 m.p.h. along a highway unless there has been an engineering survey within five years.

Franceschi successfully proved in traffic court three times that Huntington Beach had failed to have an updated engineering survey. The courts dismissed all traffic charges against Franceschi and in effect agreed that the city had been operating a speed trap.

Sangster said Friday that the city since 1990 has updated its engineering surveys and can now use radar in accordance with state law. Franceschi also agreed that the city is now in legal compliance. But he said the speed traps of the past still needed redress for all the drivers who had faced “extortion.”