The Price of a Broken Dream: $3.3 Million

Twelve years ago, Ardeshir Asgari was an Iranian immigrant preparing for his citizenship test and the U.S. Olympic wrestling trials when he was arrested by Los Angeles police and jailed on a heroin charge.

Today, Asgari is a U.S. citizen, coaches his former college wrestling team in Fullerton and is apparently about to collect a $3.3-million damage award for false arrest.

The state Supreme Court unanimously denied review Wednesday of an appeal by the city of Los Angeles, which argued that it should not be held responsible for the destruction of Asgari’s Olympic hopes. After his acquittal on the criminal charge, another jury found that he had been framed.

“I had this nightmare for 12 years and it’s over,” Asgari said in a telephone interview. “My life was in a bubble for the last 12 years. . . . Every time I see a shadow I think, ‘Is this a detective coming to shoot me?’ ”

He said he would use part of the money for wrestling scholarships at Cal State Fullerton.

Asgari defected from his native Iran while traveling with the Iranian wrestling team in 1982 and was granted political asylum in the United States a year later.

He became a U.S. spokesman for opposition to the Iranian religious government and an All-American wrestler at Cal State Fullerton. He was invited to the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials but was in jail by the time they were held.

He was arrested in December 1987 for investigation of selling heroin to a man who had befriended him and turned out to be a Los Angeles police informant. Prosecutors said Asgari provided a sample of heroin in a parking lot, but Asgari said he knew nothing of any drug deal and was set up to carry a briefcase containing heroin.

He was held in jail for seven days, charged and then held another seven months until he was acquitted. He never tried out for the Olympic team. He became a U.S. citizen in 1989 after his release from jail.

In his civil suit, an Orange County Superior Court jury awarded more than $1.2 million in damages against the city and a detective. The state Supreme Court overturned the damages in 1997, saying state law bars damages against police for a period of imprisonment after charges are filed. But in a retrial limited to damages for his false arrest and seven days in jail, another jury awarded him $3.3 million.

The 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the damage award in July, ruling that the new jury was free to reevaluate the harm Asgari suffered from his arrest. He was awarded $800,000 for financial losses and $2.5 million for emotional distress.