Supervisors Asked to OK $2.5 Million to Settle Suits

In an effort to avoid potentially expensive jury trials, the Los Angeles County Claims Board on Monday asked county supervisors to approve spending $2.5 million in taxpayer funds to settle several lawsuits--including two wrongful death claims--against the Sheriff’s Department.

Meeting behind closed doors, claims board members recommended spending $1.25 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed man who was shot eight times by sheriff’s deputies in March 1997.

The board also asked the supervisors to allocate $650,000 to settle a highly publicized case involving Twin Towers jail inmate Danny Smith, who died after deputies used force to subdue him last August.

And amid continuing allegations of faulty medical care in the county lockups, the claims officials recommended that the Board of Supervisors pay $606,000 to settle a case involving an inmate whose right leg had to be amputated because the jail’s medical staff allegedly did not adequately treat an infection that started in the man’s ankle.

County Counsel Lloyd W. Pellman said that the high tally for the three settlements is a reflection of a backlog of lawsuits from the holidays rather than a trend in the Sheriff’s Department. Overall, the number of suits filed against the department is down, he said. (During fiscal year 1997-98, the county spent $8.8 million in payouts and settlements, compared with $12.5 million the previous year.)

The supervisors will decide over the next few weeks whether to approve the three proposed settlements. Sheriff’s officials and board members declined to comment on the matter.

Pellman said the proposed settlements reflect county lawyers’ belief that they would lose the cases in the courtroom, rather than any finding that the department, in fact, was at fault. According to supporting documents reviewed by the claims board Monday, the county’s liability in the three cases could exceed $9 million if the plaintiffs prevailed in court.

The proposed $1.25-million settlement involves an unarmed man, whom deputies shot as he was running away from them March 21, 1998.

According to a summary of the case, prepared for members of the claims board, sheriff’s deputies were assisting a stranded motorist on Imperial Highway in Lynwood, when they saw Gregory Brandon, 34, running on the sidewalk across the street.

“The deputies believed that Gregory Brandon was armed and may have just committed a robbery because, as he was running, he repeatedly looked behind him and was holding something on the left side of his waist area,” according to a memo prepared by county attorneys.

Deputies ordered Brandon to stop. When he allegedly appeared to be reaching for a weapon in his waistband, the deputies opened fire, prompting Brandon to run. The deputies pursued the man. When he again allegedly appeared to reach for his waistband, they fired again.

“We believe a jury will conclude that the county and its employees are liable because Gregory Brandon was unarmed, had not committed any crimes and was struck by eight of the 32 shots fired by deputies,” the memo said.

Eric Ferrer, the attorney for Brandon’s family, called the shooting a “tragedy.”

“There was nothing on his person that looked like a gun,” said Ferrer, an associate of attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. “This was a black man who was jogging in a black neighborhood. . . . That was suspicion enough. [The deputies] immediately went after him.”

The incident involving Danny Smith, which the claims board wants to settle for $650,000, occurred Aug. 1, 1998, at Twin Towers jail. Smith, who was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm, was being transferred from one cell to another when he refused to enter the new cell because he is African American and the cell’s other inmate was Latino. The department typically separates blacks and Latinos in its jails to prevent racial fighting.

When Smith began to “physically act out,” deputies used force to subdue him, according to a memo presented to the claims board.

The memo noted that the county coroner’s office found that the inmate died of a heart attack “exacerbated by the stress and the restraint episode.” The autopsy further concluded that “positional asphyxia”--caused when a suspect is placed in a prone position--may have contributed to Smith’s death.

“We believe a jury could conclude that excessive force was used,” county attorneys wrote in the memo.

Leo Terrell, the attorney representing Smith’s family, took issue with the way county attorneys described what happened to Smith in public documents filed to support the settlement.

“Many, many people saw that Danny Smith was beaten when he was handcuffed,” Terrell said--including nine inmates contacted by The Times. “The county has put a spin on the case.”

In the final case involving the Sheriff’s Department, the claims board approved paying $606,000 to Alfred J. Roberts, who suffered an ankle injury while in jail. According county attorneys, jail medical staff did not take the necessary steps to treat an infection that ensued. As a result, Roberts’ right leg had to be amputated below the knee.

Roberts’ attorney declined to comment until the settlement is finalized.