NEWPORT BEACH : Suit Seeks to Force Officials to Pay Fines

An advertising executive who earlier this month won a $285,000 judgment in a police brutality lawsuit has filed an additional claim, saying current council members violated the Constitution by agreeing to pick up the tab for former city officials found liable in the case.

Everett Temme, 53, won the judgment in U.S. District Court against two former police chiefs, several police officers and several City Council members after testifying that he was threatened and assaulted in a 1986 traffic incident. The jury ordered Councilman John C. Cox Jr. and five of his former colleagues to pay $20,000 each in punitive damages.

But the current council--minus Cox, who recused himself--voted in closed session March 8 to appeal the verdict. The council also voted to have city coffers cover the damages levied against the then-council members.

Now Los Angeles attorney Stephen Yagman, who represents Temme and specializes in police brutality cases, wants council members to pay out of their own pockets for voting to cover the damages against the original defendants.

“The function of punitive damages is not to compensate the plaintiffs, it’s to punish the defendants,” Yagman said. “The civil rights laws are meant to deter unconstitutional conduct. We care when government officials decide to ratify bad conduct of other government officials.”

City Atty. Robert Burnham, however, said that a 1990 federal ruling permits cities to pay punitive damages awarded against their elected representatives and employees.

“I have no explanation for why he would file a lawsuit against the City Council in this case, no explanation at all,” Burnham said.

Mayor Clarence J. Turner said council members voted to cover their predecessors’ penalties because they do not agree with the jury’s finding that the council was liable.

“We work for a corporation, a high-profile corporation that serves the public,” Turner said. “Everyone is constantly shooting at us whether they have a legitimate gripe or not. If you’re out there on the firing line and you don’t feel that the corporation is behind you, then how’s that going to affect your judgment? It’s going to intimidate you.

“As long as (council members) are making a decision based upon the information that has been given to them and they’re acting on behalf of the corporation, their personal judgment should be protected,” he said.

Yagman said he plans to seek at least $20,000 from each of the current council members. “We want enough money to sting them and to teach them that it’s wrong,” he said.

But Turner said: “That’s the least of my worries.”