A jury recently reached a defense verdict in favor of firm clients City of Hawthorne and two officers of the Hawthorne Police Department. Representing the defendants from Manning Kass were Los Angeles Partner Louis W. Pappas and Los Angeles Senior Counsel Avi Schild.
On a rainy morning in December 2014, a 55-year-old male was fatally struck by a vehicle while trying to cross the street outside of a marked crosswalk, sustaining major head trauma. An investigation of the incident was led by a 20-year veteran of the police force, who found the driver was not at fault due to poor visibility conditions and the pedestrian’s unsafe crossing. Shortly after, the detective who led the investigation received a phone call from the driver of the vehicle, who believed they were at fault and expressed a desire to turn themselves in to the police. The detective maintained their original findings that there was no crime committed.
Following the investigation, the decedent’s family filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court under 42 USC section 1983 against the City of Hawthorne and the officers involved. In their suit, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants had conspired to cover up a vehicular manslaughter, depriving them of their right to access the courts and wrongfully interfering with a potential civil claim against the driver of the vehicle.
To build their case, Mr. Pappas and Mr. Schild retained a prominent police practices expert to testify to the validity of the investigation and its findings. As part of their argument, Mr. Pappas and Mr. Schild were able to establish that the plaintiff’s claims did not hold up due to numerous inconsistencies in the evidence provided. The jury returned a full defense verdict after a weeklong trial, finding that the defendants did not violate the plaintiffs’ civil rights. Congratulations to Mr. Pappas and Mr. Schild on their success in this matter!