CITY OFFICIALS TO MAP PLAN ON POSSIBLE SUITS.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand and Phillip W. Browne Staff Writers

Anticipating massive lawsuits against the city, Los Angeles City Attorney James Hahn and Police Chief Bernard C. Parks will meet privately today with the City Council to discuss strategy in the unfolding LAPD brutality scandal.

City officials said they are concerned about the legal fallout from the false imprisonment of a 22-year-old illegal immigrant, who was paralyzed in a police shooting, and allegations that Rampart Division officers beat a man while handcuffed.

City Attorney's Office spokesman Mike Qualls said the meeting today is the first step in mapping plans for defending against lawsuits.

``Ultimately the taxpayers pay,'' said Qualls. ``The council requested this because they control litigation and would approve a settlement.''

Perhaps the most damaging lawsuit could come from Javier Francisco Ovando, who was shot and paralyzed during a police shooting and then sent to prison for 23 years. He was ordered released from prison last week after nearly three years in custody after an officer told prosecutors that Ovando was framed.

Another lawsuit could come from 21-year-old Jose Perez, who claims he was shot by police and framed for the attack in much the same way as Ovando. He was walking up apartment stairs to visit gang members when he was hit by a shotgun blast from a Rampart Division officer in July 1996.

Police Commissioner Bert Boeckmann said the scandal has put the city and taxpayers ``in serious jeopardy.''

``The commission has not discussed liability, but the truth is we all know it's out there and is very serious,'' Boeckmann said. ``When officers are unclean it puts us all in financial peril.''

Following the recommendations of a federal jury, the City Council paid out $3.8 million to Rodney King, whose beating by police officers was caught on videotape.

Boeckmann also said he is concerned about criminals who might be freed because of the scandal.

``There are people guilty of a lot of things that may end up going free, and that puts us in . . . peril too,'' Boeckmann said.

Attorney Stephen Yagman, a longtime critic of the Los Angeles police, said the Ovando scandal alone could cost the city more than $7 million in damages, attorney fees and defense costs.

The payout to Ovando alone could top $5 million and plaintiff attorney fees could approach $1 million, Yagman said. The City Attorney's Office could end up spending $300,000 for its own attorney's work and an additional $1 million or so on outside counsel.

``But the money has never fazed city officials because it's not their money. It's taxpayer money,'' Yagman said. ``This is an old story. The culture of policing in L.A. is a culture of brutality and corruption, and officials never do anything to change it.''

While not predicting a specific dollar figure on a city settlement, attorney Gloria Allred said the callousness of the attack on Ovando will boost the payout.

``Of course we don't know how many others were wrongfully incarcerated or if anyone else was shot or harmed in any way by a police officer without cause,'' Allred said. ``I don't think we know the full extent of this.''

Pasadena attorney Robert Racine, who has handled several civil rights suits, said city leaders might be able to save money by settling now instead of risking the unpredictability of a jury if a suit goes to trial.

``They'll hope that the plaintiff's lawyers fall flat on their face and they can avoid liability on a technicality,'' Racine said. ``But that doesn't work all the time and it could be a multimillion (dollar) verdict without a doubt.''

As a public entity, the city cannot be hit for punitive damages, which are intended to punish a defendant for wrongdoing and in many cases exceed the cost of the actual damages, he said.

But the actual, compensatory damages alone could cost the city millions of dollars and individual officers can be held responsible in civil court for punitive damages, which are often then paid by the city as well, he said.

``I think this case should be put to mediation and arbitration as soon as possible,'' he said. ``They should deal with it right up front.''