O.C. Agreed to Pay $10 Million to Slain Deputy’s Family : Settlement: Secret deal involved case of officer shot in training exercise two years ago, in which no charges were ever filed. Bankruptcy Court must OK proposal.

In a case in which Orange County grand jurors and federal prosecutors found no wrongdoing, a few top county officials secretly made a deal to pay $10 million to the family of a sheriff’s deputy slain by a fellow officer during an impromptu training exercise on Christmas Day two years ago.

County sources said the offer to survivors of Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins was strongly pushed by Sheriff Brad Gates, who wanted to compensate the family and avoid an embarrassing legal battle involving his department.

The proposed settlement was reached last March, the same month in which bankrupt Orange County decided to lay off hundreds of county employees because of its dire financial situation.

The deal, which could become one of the largest settlements in county history, still needs final approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Court and a committee of top county officials.

Terms of the settlement with Robins’ wife, his 3-year-old daughter and his mother were disclosed in documents recorded in Bankruptcy Court along with a flood of other last-minute claims filed before last Friday’s deadline.

Both the victim’s family and county officials were eager to settle the matter out of court. Without a lawsuit ever being filed, the parties even agreed to take their dispute to a private mediation firm in Orange to broker a settlement agreement.

Tom Beckett, the county’s risk manager, said he and Dennis Bunker, county claims manager, authorized a Newport Beach financial firm to try to settle the case for $10 million after reviewing the county’s liability.

Beckett said the settlement would need final approval by a claim settlement committee comprising Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, County Counsel Laurence M. Watson and Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis.

The Board of Supervisors, which years ago delegated authority to settle claims to the three-member committee, would not need to approve the agreement, officials said.

At least one supervisor was surprised at the settlement offer.

“I thought all this stuff got tied up in the bankruptcy and was put on hold,” Supervisor William G. Steiner said.

Thomas A. Girardi, a Los Angeles attorney who represents Robins’ relatives, said the officer’s widow “wanted desperately to settle this case.”

“The courtroom was not her first” choice, Girardi said. “She did not want to go through the emotional toll that a trial like this would take on her family.”

Although Officer Brian P. Scanlan steadfastly maintained that he accidentally fired the shot that killed his 38-year-old partner, the incident rocked the Sheriff’s Department and shocked the community. The shooting sparked allegations of gross misconduct and racism. District attorney’s office investigators maintained that the shooting was not intentional but a tragic accident.

Authorities said the two deputies were engaged in an unscheduled training exercise behind a Lake Forest movie theater, with Robins playing the part of a suspect in a car stop and Scanlan the arresting officer, when the shooting occurred.

Scanlan, a 32-year-old field training deputy, told investigators he shot Robins accidentally after Robins startled him by pulling a hidden handgun from behind the visor of his patrol car.

Robins, authorities said, was apparently imitating a technique used by gang members against police.

The Orange County district attorney’s office concluded after an investigation that Scanlan had been “grossly negligent” in using a loaded pistol in a training exercise, and thought he should be charged with involuntary manslaughter. But in an unusual twist, prosecutors left the final decision to the grand jury, which declined to indict Scanlan.

Critics of the county’s investigation questioned whether the case was handled properly, and whether the shooting was ascribable to a “trigger-happy” cop. They also questioned whether the shooting had anything to do with the slain deputy being African American and the shooter being white.

At the urging of the victim’s family and community leaders, Justice Department officials looked into the case but said they found no violations of federal law.

Scanlan has since been granted a service-connected disability retirement in which he receives about $2,100 a month. He now lives in Rio Rico, Ariz., where he works as a private investigator.

In August 1994, Robins’ widow, Rosemary, filed a claim with the county seeking $15 million on behalf of herself and daughter Melissa, 3. She alleged that the Sheriff’s Department and county officials knew that deputies were holding training sessions with loaded weapons in violation of department policy.

After the shooting, Sheriff Gates expressed deep concern for Mrs. Robins, and visited her at her home in Los Angeles several times.

According to a county official close to the settlement talks, Gates “wanted to get the case settled before a claim was even filed.” The official added that at one point, the sheriff tried to get the county to buy Robins’ widow a house as part of an eventual settlement.

Gates wielded considerable influence in the county earlier this year when he became a key member of the county’s bankruptcy recovery team.

Gates did not return calls seeking comment Monday.

The family’s attorney and county officials confirmed Monday that the proposed settlement has been in the works for months. The deal was brokered through Judicial Arbitration & Mediation Services Inc., which for a fee helps settle civil disputes and avoid long and costly court battles.

Under the proposed deal, the widow would receive a lump sum payment of $1.1 million with the rest of her settlement to be paid over a 20-year period. The deputy’s daughter would receive $50,000 a year at ages 18 through 21 for education costs. She would get a $100,000 lump sum at age 25, according to the deal.

Robins’ mother, Mildred Fisher, would get payments starting at $300 a month for the next 10 years.

James Brady, a vice president of Ringler Associates, a Newport Beach firm that crafted the settlement for the county, said the deal was held up because the county needed Bankruptcy Court approval to purchase annuities to fund the payments.

Settlement talks between Robins’ attorney and the county occurred at a time when many civil lawsuits against the county have been stuck in legal purgatory. After the county declared insolvency, federal bankruptcy law automatically froze all pending cases against the county until the bankruptcy is resolved. The Robins case is unusual because it was tentatively settled after the family filed a claim but before the filing of a formal lawsuit.

Girardi, the Robins’ attorney, praised the sheriff for his “upstanding” manner in dealing with his clients’ claim. “He dealt with the matter with a great deal of integrity,” Girardi said.

Girardi, however, said he is concerned about the county’s bankruptcy and its impact on the settlement. He plans to raise the issue before the private mediator within the next month.

“We are hopeful that the county will do the right thing and not oppose the settlement,” Girardi said.

Times staff writers Ken Ellingwood and Michael G. Wagner contributed to this report.