COMMITTEE FAVORS NEARLY $3 MILLION IN SETTLEMENTS.

Byline: Douglas Haberman Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles County Claims Board on Monday recommended paying about $2.84 million to settle four lawsuits, including one filed by the family of a man who died in county jail.

The daughter and father of Danny Ray Smith, 34, claimed in their excessive-force lawsuit that the Los Angeles man died Aug. 1 in the Twin Towers Jail downtown after two sheriff's deputies tried to force him into a cell, and he resisted.

The deputies forced Smith to the ground, stomach down, with his hands cuffed behind his back, and placed ankle restraints on him, according to a report prepared by the County Counsel's Office. He went limp. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation attempts by medical personnel, Smith died at the scene, the report says.

A number of inmates in an interview accused a sheriff's deputy of sitting on Smith's back, while he was prone, and choking him with a large flashlight pulled against his neck. An autopsy determined Smith died from cardiac arrest exacerbated by the stress of the restraint episode.

Coroner's officials also concluded that his position - prone, with wrists and ankles bound behind him and pressure on his upper back - could have restricted the flow of blood to the heart and oxygen to the lungs. They said positional asphyxia might have contributed to his death.

The settlement recommended in Smith's case is $650,000.

County Counsel Bill Pellman said the county stands to lose more than $650,000 if the case is not settled. ``We think we're likely to be hit if we go on to trial,'' he said.

Former county Supervisor Ed Edelman mediated the settlement.

The Claims Board also recommended that the county pay:

$1.25 million to settle a wrongful-death suit filed by the wife and children of a Lynwood man, Gregory Brandon, who was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies March 21, 1997.

He was unarmed and had not committed any crimes that day but ran when deputies ordered him to stop, according to a County Counsel's Office report. An object he was holding in his waistband, which deputies said they believed to be a gun, turned out to be a clear plastic coin box.

$606,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man whose infected and swollen right ankle wasn't properly treated while he was an inmate in county jails. His right leg eventually had to be amputated to prevent the spread of infection. The settlement would include lifetime acute medical care related to his injuries.

$250,000 to the family of a woman who died from an overwhelming infection and respiratory failure after surgery at UCLA Medical Center in December 1995. The family sued for wrongful death. An attorney's report on the case indicated hospital staff actions fell below the standard of care.

The Claims Board also authorized an $85,000 settlement to end an employment discrimination lawsuit filed against the county Probation Department by a man partially disabled by high blood pressure.

Certain work restrictions were placed on him as a result of the disability but the department said it couldn't find a position for him that accommodated the disability for more than a year. He was forced to use up all his accrued sick and vacation time.

The Claims Board can authorize settlements for less than $100,000.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the Brandon case settlement March 2 and the others Feb. 16.