3 Convictions Voided in Test of Riot Curfew Law : Courts: Ruling by three-judge panel may jeopardize thousands of cases. L.A. officials vow to appeal decision.

In a ruling that throws into doubt thousands of arrests for curfew violations during last year’s riots, an appellate court has overturned convictions in three test cases in which people were rounded up while merely walking on the street or being in their cars after dark.

Agreeing with arguments made by public defenders, a three-judge panel said police should have arrested only those individuals whose actions threatened to “imperil lives or property or prevent, hinder or delay” police or fire crews.

City officials vowed Tuesday to appeal the ruling by the Appellate Department of the Superior Court, noting that such emergency measures may again become necessary after verdicts in the Rodney G. King civil rights trial and the Reginald O. Denny beating case.

“There are two trials going on right now that have the potential for disorder,” Deputy City Atty. Lisa S. Berger said. “We have the interest in being able to enforce a curfew.”

The mayor’s office defended the use of a broad curfew but suggested that revisions might be made in appropriate sections of the City Administrative Code to satisfy the courts.

“Mayor Bradley’s imposition of the curfew was a major factor in controlling last year’s disturbances,” spokeswoman Vallee Bunting said. “The mayor will be working with the LAPD and city attorney to ensure that the people of Los Angeles have an effective curfew option at their disposal in future emergencies.”

The 10-page decision by the appellate panel--which heard arguments on the issue last week in Los Angeles--did not challenge the legality of parts of the City Administrative Code that empower officials to declare a state of emergency and impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew as part of it.

But the court said that under the code’s wording “mere presence on the street is not a violation.” Being outside after hours becomes a misdemeanor only if the individual commits an act of a nature that poses a danger to rescue crews or others, according to the decision written by Judge Abby Soven.

Brushing aside the objection of city attorneys that the interpretation “completely destroys the mayor’s authority to issue meaningful orders in emergency situations,” the court said the City Council could simply modify the code to make “any violations of a mayor’s emergency order a crime.”

More than 3,000 people were arrested under the curfews imposed in Los Angeles, Long Beach and other communities during the rioting last spring. Some were caught in sweeps in areas hard hit by looting, while others were arrested miles away, even on scenic Mulholland Drive, where several dozen people were picked up while watching fires in the distance or enjoying the popular lovers’ lane.

The American Civil Liberties Union complained that hundreds of homeless people were arrested as well when they had no way to escape the streets after dark.

Some cases were dismissed by city prosecutors when the defendants proved they were homeless or showed they had good reason for being outside, such as going to work. But the vast majority of those arrested pleaded guilty or no contest under plea bargains that offered them short jail terms, fines or community service.

“What this means is that all these people who were arrested for being out on the street at night . . . were illegally convicted. They may ask for reconsideration” of their cases, said Deputy Public Defender Alex A. Ricciardulli, who spearheaded the appeals.

“This is what we’ve been arguing all along,” said Ricciardulli, who petitioned several courts to drop curfew charges before trials were held, only to have his arguments dismissed. But he again challenged the curfew arrests as part of appeals of the three defendants’ convictions, generating a full review by the appellate panel.

One of the test cases involved George Continola, 31, of Los Angeles, who was picked up in an alley at 8:30 p.m. on May 1. Recently released from prison, he was staying at a halfway house for parolees when he was arrested.

Continola insisted in court that he was waiting for a ride to his job at a truck stop and that he was not outside to cause trouble. “I am just paroled. I am not going to do something like that,” he said. A city prosecutor called him a danger to the community.

Also cleared by the appellate ruling were Rodney Bowden, who was stopped while driving his van in downtown Los Angeles, and JoAnn Maria Jaimes, who was arrested while she was a passenger in a car and found guilty in one of the handful of curfew cases to go to a full jury trial.

Berger, the deputy city attorney, argued that such actions met the city code’s definition of being a threat to order during the crisis.

“Reginald Denny was doing nothing more than driving through an intersection . . . but his mere presence did, in fact, imperil lives and property,” Berger said, noting that the curfew had not yet been imposed when Denny drove to Florence and Normandie avenues.

The first step for the city in appealing the ruling is to ask for a rehearing before the Superior Court’s Appellate Department. If that is denied, as expected, the issue goes to the state Court of Appeal.

Higher court review, Berger said, would help give city leaders “an idea of what they can do in a civic disorder, whether it be a riot or earthquake.” Berger said asking the City Council to revise the emergency codes also is one of the options.

Public defender Ricciardulli agreed that the issue is destined for higher review.

“This may not be the last time you hear of this law,” he said. “The possibility of another curfew being imposed is not out of the question.”