January 4, 1999
Honorable Board of Supervisors
383 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, California 900l2
Re: Vargas v. County of Los Angeles
United States District Court Case No. CV 96-4784 DT
Dear Supervisors:
The Claims Board recommends that:
1. The Board authorize settlement of the above-entitled action in the amount of $300,000.00.
2. The Auditor-Controller be directed to draw a warrant to implement this settlement from the Sheriff's Department.
Attached is the settlement request and a summary of the facts of the cases.
Also attached, for your information, is a Correction Action Report submitted by the Sheriff's Department.
Return the executed, adopted copy to Frances Lunetta, Room 651 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, Extension 4-1754.
Very truly yours,
Barbara N. Uyeda, Chairperson
Los Angeles County Claims Board
BNU/fsl
Attachment
M E M O R A N D U M
December 30, 1998
TO: THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY CLAIMS BOARD
FROM: DENNIS M. GONZALES
Principal Deputy County Counsel
General Litigation Division
RE: Vargas v. County of Los Angeles, et al.
Case No. CV 96-4784 DT
DATE OF
INCIDENT: July 9, 1996
AUTHORITY
REQUESTED: $300,000
COUNTY
DEPARTMENT: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
_________________________________________________________________________
CLAIMS BOARD ACTION:
_ Approve _ Disapprove _ Recommend to Board
of Supervisors for
Approval
, Chief Administrative Office
BARBARA N. UYEDA
, County Counsel
LLOYD W. PELLMAN
, Auditor-Controller
MICHAEL L. GALINDO
on , 1999
Jesus Vargas Trejo
Claims Board Memorandum
December 30, 1998
SUMMARY
This is a recommendation to settle for $300,000, the lawsuit brought by Alejandro and Oliver Vargas the two surviving minor children of decedent Jesus Vargas Trejo. They claim two Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies used excessive force and violated their civil rights in the Sheriff's shooting death of their father on July 9, 1996.
LEGAL PRINCIPLES
A public entity is responsible for negligent and wrongful acts of its employees when the acts are committed in the course and scope of their duties.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
On July 9, 1996 while driving through the Compton area, between 11:00 and 11:30 p.m., two Los Angeles County Sheriffs' Deputies, a training Deputy and his trainee, were flagged down by persons at the El Molino Rojo Bar. After some difficulty talking with these persons, the Deputies learned that a drive-by shooting had just occurred at the bar. The Deputies were given a general description of the suspects including one male Hispanic, and a general description of the vehicle used in the shooting.
The Deputies then continued their patrol duties, keeping a lookout for the suspects or the vehicle involved in the drive-by shooting. A few minutes later, while driving near where the drive-by shooting had occurred, the unincorporated area of Compton, the Deputies noticed a suspicious-looking vehicle with the headlights on with three male Hispanics standing outside the vehicle.
As their patrol car approached closer to the vehicle the Deputies saw one male Hispanic, now known to be decedent Jesus Vargas Trejo ("Vargas"), leaning into the driver's side of the vehicle and reaching under the seat in an area where guns are commonly stored. The training Deputy then saw that Vargas was holding what appeared to be a gun in his hand wrapped by a floral shirt. The training Deputy immediately yelled to his trainee that Vargas was "417", meaning a man with a gun. The Deputies observed Vargas go into the trunk of his vehicle and retrieve a large plastic bag. When the training Deputy spoke to Vargas, Vargas began to run away.
Jesus Vargas Trejo
Claims Board Memorandum
December 30, 1998
The Deputies chased Vargas down the street, over a chain-link fence, and into the yard of a residence. Vargas then went through a wooden gate and slammed it shut and he was out of the sight of the Deputies. The training Deputy attempted to open the wooden gate with his right shoulder, causing his gun to drop from his hand. While looking for it in the dark, the trainee passed him and continued chasing after Vargas and within a short time observed Vargas hiding in a small opening in the backyard.
When the trainee saw Vargas, he ordered him to come out of the opening and lay on the ground. However, instead, Vargas walked toward the trainee speaking rapidly in Spanish and acting crazed. Suddenly, Vargas lunged toward the trainee and grabbed his gun, causing him to lose partial control of his weapon. The trainee and Vargas struggled over the gun for a few seconds during which time, the trainee yelled out to his partner, "Sir, he's got my gun, he's got my gun." The trainee was in fear that Vargas would gain full control of his gun and he fired one shot at Vargas.
Immediately following the shot, Vargas stood erect and the trainee and Vargas separated. Within a few seconds of the first shot, believing that his partner had been shot, the training Deputy fired a second shot at Vargas, Vargas then collapsed to the ground. After paramedics arrived, they pronounced Vargas dead at the scene.
Immediately following the second shot, a woman, now known to be Alexandra Espinoza ("Espinoza"), Vargas' girlfriend and the mother of his two children, attempted to come out the door of the residence, screaming loudly. Concerned that she would interfere with the crime scene and that the children in the residence would see Vargas bleeding profusely, the Deputies pushed her back into the house.
When homicide detectives first obtained the Deputies statements, both believed that it was the second shot which the training Deputy fired which struck Vargas. However, ballistics tests revealed that the bullet removed from his body came for the trainee's weapon. Neither the bullet fired from the training Deputy's gun nor its casing were found.
Additional tests revealed a gun shot residue was found on one of Vargas' hands and that he had quantities of cocaine and morphine in his body.
The autopsy revealed that Vargas had died of a single gunshot wound that had entered at his right rear shoulder, traveled down and forward ultimately lodging in his front left chest area.
Jesus Vargas Trejo
Claims Board Memorandum
December 30, 1998
DAMAGES
The surviving children claim they have incurred the following damages:
General Damages $ 2,000,000
Funeral Expenses $ 4,200
Total: $ 2,004,200
STATUS OF THE CASE
Our Motion for Summary Judgment was in large part granted by the Court resulting in substantial issues of the Plaintiffs' case being dismissed. This caused their demand to be reduced substantially.
The Magistrate Judge's participation and recommendation of settlement at the $300,000 figure caused the plaintiffs' attorneys to reevaluate the case value.
The trial date had been set for April 1999. However, as a result of this proposed settlement all dates have been vacated and the attorneys' are to report the settlement status by January 30, 1999.
Attorneys' fees of $55,613.33 and costs of $21,868.29 have been incurred thus far in the defense of this case.
EVALUATION
In addition to Espinoza, who testified she observed Vargas to have been pulled by his wrist and then shot in his back, there is an additional witness neighbor who claims Vargas was on the ground, unarmed, and shot for no reason.
Although both witness stories are inconsistent with each other and some of what the neighbor claims to have occurred is physically impossible in light of the objective findings, both make good witnesses and give the impression that they believe what they say.
Additionally, the point of the bullet's entry and its trajectory in the body coupled with the resulting stippling (gun powder burns on the skin) are hard to explain given the trainee's version of Vargas' position at the time he was shot.
Jesus Vargas Trejo
Claims Board Memorandum
December 30, 1998
As a result the trier of fact could find for the plaintiff. The Sheriff's Department concurs with our recommendation to settle this matter for $300,000.
APPROVED:
____________________________
Louis V. Aguilar
Assistant County Counsel