CITY COULD DEFAULT IN LAWSUIT; SLAIN BANK ROBBER'S SONS MAY COLLECT.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer The City Attorney's Office has missed a key deadline for answering a lawsuit by the children of a bank robber killed during the North Hollywood shootout The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily-armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu, and patrol and SWAT officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in North Hollywood, California on February 28, 1997. , setting up the possibility of the city defaulting in the case. Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. voiced concern Tuesday about the mistake, saying it could result in the city losing the chance to argue its case in court before damages are awarded to the mother of Emil Matasareanu. ``The city attorney defaulted, so the city (may have) lost that case,'' Riordan said. Ted Goldstein of the City Attorney's Office said the default has not yet been entered by a judge and that the city is appealing to be given another chance. Citing ``excusable neglect excusable neglect n. a legitimate excuse for the failure of a party or his/her lawyer to take required action (like filing an answer to a complaint) on time. and mistake,'' the City Attorney's Office has asked U.S. District Judge Kim Wardlaw to set aside a court clerk's ``entry of default'' after the city missed a deadline last month to file an answer to the amended complaint amended complaint n. what results when the party suing (plaintiff or petitioner) changes the complaint he/she has filed. It must be in writing, and can be done before the complaint is served on any defendant, by agreement between the parties (usually their lawyers), by Matasareanu's children. Attorney Stephen Yagman, who is representing Matasareanu's two young sons, charged in the lawsuit that the police let Matasareanu bleed to death after he was wounded in a shootout Shootout Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup. with Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . officers during an aborted bank robbery Feb. 28. The city filed an answer to the original lawsuit, but missed a deadline last month to file a required answer to an amended complaint that named 25 LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. officers as defendants. ``The failure to answer the first amended complaint was due to simple, excusable neglect, and was inadvertent,'' stated the filing by City Attorney James Hahn. Deputy City Attorney Suzanne Tom said in a declaration that she forgot to set a date for submitting the city's answer. However, Yagman, who has frequently clashed with city officials over LAPD cases, has asked the judge to enter the default and set damages for his clients. ``The City Attorney's Office was so busy calling me names for taking the case that they forgot that there was a lawsuit pending,'' he said. ``They are endemically incompetent.'' Yagman said a judgment of default would mean the city lost the case of whether it is liable for Matasareanu's death and would move the case on to the setting of damages. To have the default cleared, ``they would have to show good reason for making the mistake,'' he said, charging that the city's papers do not meet that standard. Riordan is angry over the mistake and said Tuesday it is an argument for taking civil litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. away from the City Attorney's Office and giving it to a new position of city legal counsel in the Mayor's Office. ``Here you have a city attorney who failed to answer the complaint by Yagman on this crook that died during the North Hollywood shootout,'' the mayor said in an interview. ``The client, the Police Department, has no (ability) to say, `We want a different attorney.' '' |
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