City Rejects Gates’ Bid to Recoup Some Legal Costs

City officials Tuesday denied a $364,596 claim lodged by former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to recover costs that he contends he incurred while battling the Police Commission for his job after the police beating of Rodney G. King.

The rejection of the claim by the city attorney’s office sets the stage for a legal battle that could reopen a bitter debate that two years ago pitted the commission against the Los Angeles City Council and council members against each other and Mayor Tom Bradley.

Harry Melkonian, who represents Gates, said he will file a lawsuit against the city within 30 days contending that it breached a settlement that Gates and the City Council reached in the first days after the King beating. At that time, calls for Gates’ resignation were at a fever pitch.

The controversial agreement called for Gates to drop a lawsuit against the city if the council nullified a 60-day furlough that the Police Commission ordered for Gates so it could investigate allegations of widespread brutality and racism in the LAPD. Critics said such irregularities had been unmasked for the first time with the videotaped beating of King.

Nevertheless, Gates prevailed and remained in office another year before retiring.

The breach of Gates’ agreement with the City Council occurred, Melkonian contended, when a lawyer hired by the Police Commission continued to oppose the settlement in court with the help of then-Police Commissioner Melanie Lomax.

Melkonian said Gates is seeking to be reimbursed for legal expenses and other costs related to the commission’s efforts to get the settlement overturned.

“The settlement agreement was, if any party breaks it, then they are responsible for damages,” Melkonian said.

But Fred Merkin, senior assistant city attorney, said Tuesday that no breach of the agreement occurred.

Merkin said the agreement has no provision for the reimbursement of legal fees and that Hillel Chodos, the lawyer the Police Commission hired, had no authority to represent the commission.

“The council controls litigation, not bodies like the Police Commission,” Merkin said.

Moreover, he said, the opposition to the settlement included taxpayers who were determined to take their case to the appeals courts.