Officer’s Suit Against City, Riordan Rejected

A judge ruled Thursday against an LAPD sergeant who had filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and Mayor Richard Riordan, alleging that the mayor defamed him by calling him “a racist.”

In the lawsuit, Sgt. Ronnie Cato alleged that Riordan hurt his professional reputation when the mayor called Cato a racist for making disparaging remarks last summer about a candidate for Los Angeles police chief. The mayor’s comments were published in newspapers and aired on television.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ernest M. Hiroshige ruled that Cato’s argument was “not credible.” Cato had argued that he was a private figure, but the judge found that he was a “limited public figure” in relation to the selection of a new chief.

Gregory P. Orland, a deputy city attorney who handled the case, had filed a motion asking that the case be dropped, based on a statute that essentially prohibits public officials from being sued for making public comments about public issues.

Orland called the decision “a vindication of freedom of speech on matters of critical importance to the people of Los Angeles.”

Cato, who filed the lawsuit in February, could not be reached for comment.

Riordan’s comments were made after Cato sent a letter to the Police Commission criticizing the character of former Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker, a candidate for the chief’s job. Cato, a vice president of the LAPD’s black officers association, suggested that race relations would suffer if Kroeker were selected as chief.