Judge throws out Beverly Hills man’s suit against city over probe into wife’s death

When the Beverly Hills police began investigating whether Gary Klein killed his wife, Klein fought back.

He created a blog that called the Beverly Hills police “Bozos.” He hired a truck with a huge sign that asked people to boycott the city. He filed complaints against the police and finally a federal civil rights lawsuit, charging the police lied or misled judges to obtain warrants to search his home.

Klein, 61, said he wanted to prove there was no evidence incriminating him, just the hate of former in-laws and a hapless detective who fell for the vitriol. He said he wanted his three sons to know that he had nothing to do with their mother’s 2009 death.

His efforts culminated in a federal ruling several days ago in favor of the police.

U.S. District Judge John F. Walter threw out Klein’s lawsuit, ruling there was “substantial evidence” to justify three searches of his home and ordering Klein to reimburse Beverly Hills for some of the costs of defending his suit.

The investigation into the death is now over: Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to charge Klein with killing his wife, but Klein still faces a felony charge of hacking into the computer of one of his former in-laws. Klein said he refused a plea deal and will fight the charge. He also plans to appeal Walter’s ruling, which he said contained factual errors and inexcusably failed to hold the police accountable for a false statement in an affidavit.

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FOR THE RECORD: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to the death of Rina Klein as a “slaying.” The coroner classified the cause of her death as undetermined.

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“Is it acceptable that cops lie and lie and lie?” Klein said. “They always lie because they get away with it.... What happened to me has happened because nobody has confronted the police to the level I have.”

The judge’s ruling largely vindicated Beverly Hills Det. Daniel Chilson, who headed the Klein death investigation and who did not return a call seeking comment. It was the only such investigation Chilson spearheaded for Beverly Hills. He now works in the traffic division in a position he sought and competed with others to obtain, according to a city spokeswoman.

Beverly Hills City Atty. Larry Wiener said the city was pleased the judge threw out the lawsuit “and agreed that the police acted appropriately in this investigation.”

The investigation began shortly after Rina Pakula Klein, 41, died in 2009. She had seizures in her kitchen while visiting with another woman and died later at a hospital. She had suffered from lupus and was taking several kinds of prescription medications, but had appeared in excellent health just days earlier.

Her family suspected that Klein had killed her, according to court records. Her mother and her sister said Rina Klein was extremely unhappy in the marriage and had confided that Klein told her that he could kill her and get away with it.

Police interviewed Klein’s children at school, the parents of his children’s friends, his neighbors and his relatives. Rina Klein’s body was exhumed for a more complete autopsy, and the police hired an outside laboratory to investigate.

Klein’s lawsuit forced the police to reveal their evidence after prosecutors declined to bring murder charges. It showed that a private laboratory found traces of strychnine in one biological sample taken from Rina Klein, but other tests failed to confirm any evidence of the poison.

The coroner’s office also tested for strychnine and ruled it out. Rina Klein’s cause of death has been classified as undetermined.

Police said they also concluded that Rina Klein had had an affair with another man, according to court records. They quoted the man as saying he and Rina had become “hot and heavy” at one point. The man, who is married and asked not to be identified, told The Times there was no affair.

Police said they heard from multiple sources that Rina Klein had planned to get a divorce and interviewed two divorce lawyers who confirmed her contacts with them, according to the records.

Klein countered that their marriage, which had been rocky in the past, was solid at the time she died. He said Rina never told him she wanted out of the marriage.

In dismissing Klein’s suit, the judge concluded the detective leading the probe had made one false statement in an affidavit for one of the three search warrants.

The affidavit said that a large quantity of Percodan, a narcotic pain reliever, was seen among Rina Klein’s medications at the hospital, which Det. Chilson learned was not true before the affidavit was filed, the records showed.

But the judge said the inaccuracy did not help Klein’s case.

“The court cannot conclude that Chilson made this statement with deliberate or reckless disregard for the truth,” wrote Walter, who was a federal prosecutor when former President George W. Bush appointed him to the bench.

Once Chilson realized the information was wrong, he “did not include the offending statement in his subsequent affidavits,” the judge said.

Even without the false statement, there was “probable cause” — a fair possibility that evidence of a crime would be found — to issue the search warrants, the judge determined.

He also wrote that prosecutors declined to charge Klein with killing his wife “notwithstanding the substantial evidence discovered during the course of the investigation.”

Among the evidence the judge cited were statements Rina Klein’s mother and sister made about Rina feeling threatened and an article found in Klein’s computer about the death of Sunny Von Bulow, an heiress whose husband was charged with poisoning her.

Klein and his former in-laws became estranged after Rina’s death. They fought each other in court over Rina’s estate and grandparent visitation.

Klein, a real estate investor, estimated he has spent $1.2 million on lawyers to fight his former in-laws, defend himself during the investigation into his wife’s death and bring the civil rights lawsuit.

While appealing Walter’s decision, Klein also will be fighting the computer fraud charge.

According to police reports, someone used an email address of Rina Klein’s uncle to falsely report that her family would be investigated for perjury in connection with their court fight with Klein over Rina’s estate.

The uncle said he did not send the October 2011 email, and Chilson said he traced it to an Internet protocol address assigned to Klein.

Lawyers for Klein did not return calls seeking comment.

Klein said he has no regrets about suing Beverly Hills police, despite his loss, and feels no relief that the probe into the death appears to be over.

“I am not going to be relieved until the case is abolished and all the paperwork is opened for public scrutiny,” he said.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

@mauradolan