Hogtying Decision Sparks Calls to Review L.A. Case

Citing new medical evidence that alleges hogtying suspects does not contribute to their deaths, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick said Friday that she wants to modify a settlement in a recent wrongful death lawsuit that cost the city $750,000 and forced police to abandon a controversial restraint procedure.

Chick said she will introduce a motion at the City Council meeting Tuesday, asking the city attorney to explore modification of the settlement.

Additionally, Chick said she wants the city attorney to explain what efforts his staff made to research medical opinions on hogtying before it recommended that the City Council settle a lawsuit brought by the parents of Bruce Klobuchar--a 25-year-old man who died after LAPD officers shackled his hands and feet together behind his back.

Police said Klobuchar appeared to be under the influence of drugs. The county coroner concluded that restraint contributed to his death.

As part of the settlement, city officials agreed to prohibit the department’s use of that particular method of restraining violent suspects, known by the LAPD as the “Total Appendage Restraint Procedure.” Some attorneys argued that that method was a variation of hogtying.

Chick said a federal judge’s recent dismissal of a San Diego hogtying lawsuit warrants a reexamination of the city’s settlement.

In the San Diego case, a study by the UC San Diego Medical Center contradicted other opinions that hogtying affected blood oxygen levels and impaired the mechanical process of breathing, causing positional asphyxia.

Dr. Donald Reay, the medical examiner who first suggested nearly a decade ago that there was a link between hogtying and in-custody deaths, could not be reached for comment Friday. San Diego County Counsel Ricky R. Sanchez said Reay recanted his theory in court testimony and documents.

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“This is just outrageous,” said attorney Carol Watson, who represented Klobuchar’s relatives. “The evidence is irrefutable.”

“When a person is on their stomach, and particularly when the police are pressing on their back, they can’t breathe. They can’t expand their lungs,” she said.

Watson said she will fight any attempt to modify the settlement to which the city agreed in July. Legally, she said, it is unlikely the city would prevail.

Because of the settlement, the LAPD has been looking for alternative ways to restrain violent suspects, but has not found one it believes is as effective as the prohibited hobbling device, officials said.

“The LAPD is concerned about losing one of its tools,” Chick said.