County, Family of Deputy Killed by Partner Settle Suit

The family of a sheriff’s deputy who was shot in the face and killed by his partner in 1993 has agreed to accept $900,000 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit against the county, lawyers in the case said Friday.

Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins was 30 when he was killed during a training exercise on Christmas Day 1993. Sheriff’s reports said Robins was showing fellow Deputy Brian Scanlan how to guard against gang members who hide handguns in their cars.

Neither Robins’ attorneys nor Sheriff Brad Gates would comment Friday on the settlement agreement, which was confirmed by county officials. Rosemary Robins, the slain deputy’s widow, could not be reached for comment.

Officials said Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert D. Monarch must review the agreement to determine whether the interests of Robins’ daughter, now 5, are being protected, attorneys said Friday.

The incident stirred racial tension at the time because Robins was black and Scanlan white. And the Sheriff’s Department drew heavy criticism for allowing what some described as careless training stunts using loaded weapons.

According to officials, the two deputies were enacting a scenario in which Robins posed as a gang member behind the wheel of a car, and Scanlan, playing the role of an officer, asked for his vehicle registration. Robins reached above the sun visor and, instead of paperwork, produced a handgun, which he thrust out the window at Scanlan, officials said.

But the demonstration startled Scanlan, who was holding a loaded weapon at the time and accidentally fired it, according to Sheriff’s Department reports.

Scanlan left the department on a disability claim after the incident and later retired.

A grand jury refused a prosecutor’s recommendation to charge Scanlan with involuntary manslaughter and a subsequent U.S. Justice Department probe found no evidence of federal violations.

A $2-million settlement with Robins’ widow, Rosemary, and daughter, Melissa, was worked out in 1996 by attorneys for the Robins family and the county, but it was scuttled by an oversight committee, which concluded that workers’ compensation should be the survivors’ only remedy.

Rosemary Robins filed a $15-million wrongful death lawsuit against the county later that year alleging that the Sheriff’s Department permitted deputies to harbor “a propensity for the use of unnecessary and excessive force” and indifference to the well-being of others.