Fired Deputy Seeks Closed Proceedings

Fired Sheriff’s Deputy Donald Rodarte is fighting to overturn his termination from the department, five months after he was let go for denying to investigators that he struck an already injured man who later died.

Rodarte, 28, appeared at a Ventura County Civil Service Commission hearing on Wednesday to plead his case, but the matter was postponed at the request of his attorney. A new court date will be set later.

Among the questions to be settled before testimony begins is whether the hearing, ordinarily open to the public, should be held in private.

Rodarte’s attorney, Bill Hadden, has filed a request to keep the public out of the hearing, much to the frustration of the dead man’s parents.

“I think it would be grossly unfair,” said James Dowey, father of victim Nick Dowey. “What do they have to hide? . . . The Sheriff’s Department has trampled over my son’s grave and it continues to happen today.”

The Times has filed a motion petitioning to keep the hearing open. Hadden declined to explain why he wanted the proceedings closed, but a formal reply to the paper’s request is expected to be filed in coming weeks.

Dowey’s parents attended Wednesday’s commission hearing because they wanted to hear Rodarte explain why he should be reinstated as a deputy.

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The couple have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, scheduled to go to trial March 2, alleging that Rodarte and seven other deputies were negligent when they struck Dowey during a struggle to subdue him. A medical examiner’s report found that Dowey died from blows he suffered during an attack earlier in the evening.

But the Doweys believe the actions of the deputies, including Rodarte’s blows, contributed to their son’s death.

Rodarte was one of 12 deputies called to a Meiners Oaks home on the night of Sept. 12, 1997, to calm a rowdy and intoxicated group of partygoers.

Rodarte and partner Darin Yanover, also a defendant in the civil suit, arrived to find Dowey, with blood from a head wound streaming down his face, staggering from the crowd, according to a sheriff’s report.

Unknown assailants had apparently attacked Dowey with a baseball bat or club just before deputies arrived, the report said. Dowey allegedly became combative with officers as they tried to approach the wounded man. A struggle ensued, during which Rodarte allegedly struck Dowey in the head with his pepper spray can, the Sheriff Department’s report said.

Dowey was rushed to Ventura County Medical Center where he died the next day.

During questioning by department investigators, Rodarte denied ever striking Dowey. But other authorities at the scene said Rodarte told them he had hit the young man with his pepper spray can, and a circular bruise matching the circumference of the can was found on Dowey’s head, the report said.

An internal department review found any use of force by the deputies was justified. But Rodarte was fired last September because he allegedly lied to investigators, according to the department’s report. Rodarte, however, believes he was unjustly let go and filed an appeal immediately after his dismissal. The appeal is not expected to be resumed until April, said attorneys for Rodarte and the county.

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According to William Waters, legal advisor for the Civil Service Commission, most hearings in front of the five-member panel are open to the public. The five-member commission--appointed by the county Board of Supervisors--hears all appeals from county employees that have been disciplined or terminated.

“Over the years since I’ve been here, the great majority have been open,” said Waters, who has been a county attorney since 1970 and became the commission’s legal advisor in 1978.

Cases that could unduly embarrass a third party, or where an appellant’s testimony is about graphic sexual behavior, are among reasons for closing proceedings, Waters said.

Bill Mehrens, chairman of the Civil Service Commission, is expected to decide if Rodarte’s hearing should remain open when the case resumes.