Court Affirms Police Bias in Torrance Case

A federal appeals court upheld a $245,000 jury verdict against two Torrance police officers Tuesday, declaring that racial bias was a critical element in a traffic stop in which the officers stopped three young men, two of them African American and the other white, pointed guns at them and squeezed their genitals.

“For no good reason, two police officers stopped their car without probable cause or reasonable suspicion, conducted an illegal search of the vehicle and used degrading and excessive force on the young boys,” U.S. 9th Circuit Appeals Court Judge Stephen Reinhardt said in the 3-0 ruling.

The decision stemmed from a May 1994 incident after which the three 17-year-olds had sued the officers and the Torrance Police Department--long criticized by some minorities for unduly harsh policing practices--for civil rights violations stemming from what they termed a “frightening and humiliating search.”

All but $20,000 of the jury award was for punitive damages. Taking into account the interest that has accumulated since the June 1997 verdict and the fact that a federal judge awarded attorneys fees in the case, Torrance is now liable for well over $500,000, according to Howard R. Price and Michael L. Adelson, the Los Angeles lawyers who represented the plaintiffs.

Both attorneys said they were pleased with the result but sorry that the case has dragged on so long, a sentiment echoed by the parents of the three plaintiffs, who have all gone on to college.

The incident occurred after the young men--Nicholas Cramer, Daniel Mason and Lohren Price--had gone to the movie “Beverly Hills Cop III” to celebrate graduating from the prestigious Harvard Westlake High School in Studio City. Mason and Price (no relation to the attorney), who are black, were in the front seat of the car, driving toward Mason’s home, while Cramer, who is white, dozed in the back seat of the car.

The youths testified at the trial that they were driving within the speed limit but that the police pulled them over. The young men said that the officers ordered them out of the car at gunpoint, patted them down, and Officer Albert Kramer squeezed their testicles. The boys also said Kramer, who weighed 300 pounds, and his partner Stephen D’Anjou ransacked the car and held them for nearly an hour before releasing them. The search yielded no contraband.

In addition, according to the appellate decision, Officer Kramer separately asked Price and Mason, the two African American teenagers, “What are you doing here?,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt noted in his decision. Kramer asked the white youth questions “of a very different character,” such as “do you know the two men in the car with you,” a question that implied he was their captive. Cramer responded “of course.”

Price, who was driving his mother’s car, was cited for a broken turn signal. Price and Cramer were cited for failing to wear a seat belt.

After deciding to release the youths, the officers told them to “get the hell out of here,” according to the decision.

The citations were later dismissed in Traffic Court.

Reinhardt said that the incident was not an isolated one in the Greater Los Angeles area or across the country. The judge referred to a 1996 case that cited studies “documenting traffic stops and police harassment of African American and Hispanic males.”

In this instance, Reinhardt said, the police “appear to have chosen the wrong young people,” noting that the youths’ parents included an assistant city attorney, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, one of the city’s largest law firms, and a probation officer.

Cheryl Mason, the O’Melveny partner, filed a complaint with the Torrance police immediately after the incident. On Tuesday, Mason said she was troubled that she had never received a response to her complaint and that one of the officers had been promoted. Similarly, Robert Cramer, an assistant city attorney in Los Angeles, said neither he nor his wife had ever been interviewed by Torrance officials about their son’s experience.

Torrance Deputy City Atty. Robert Acciani said he was disappointed at the outcome, but not shocked. He said it was possible that Torrance would ask for review by a larger panel of 9th Circuit judges.

“A lot of the facts were facts that were interpreted in such a way to make it look like the cops did everything wrong from beginning to end. It was not like that.”

He also said that it was clear from the beginning of the case that race would be a critical element and that numerous questions asked by the plaintiffs’ lawyers were designed to emphasize racial issues. But Reinhardt and the other two 9th Circuit judges, Dorothy W. Nelson and Stephen S. Trott, stressed that the defendants “were the first to elicit testimony regarding the issue of racism.”

The Times was unable to reach any of the plaintiffs for comment. Since the incident, Mason and Cramer have graduated from college and are working together in a video production company in West Los Angeles, while Price is attending UCLA, according to the attorneys.