FREED INMATE MAY COLLECT $295,000 PANEL RECOMMENDS SETTLEMENT.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer A Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County panel has recommended a $295,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles man whose conviction for rock cocaine possession was reversed - after he spent 27 months in prison - because sheriff's deputies gave conflicting testimony at his trial. The Board of Supervisors will vote July 31 whether to approve the settlement recommended Monday by the county Claims Board. Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. attorney Leo Terrell said the case, which his client Calvin Newburn filed against the Sheriff's Department, is not an isolated one. ``When the spotlight of attention is primarily focused on the 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 . , we can't forget that the Sheriff's Department has the same type of problems: false evidence and false arrest,'' Terrell said. ``The appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court.An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. ruled these officers' credibility was at issue.'' The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Newburn accusing deputies in the Lennox area of violating his civil rights by arresting him without probable cause Apparent facts discovered through logical inquiry that would lead a reasonably intelligent and prudent person to believe that an accused person has committed a crime, thereby warranting his or her prosecution, or that a Cause of Action has accrued, justifying a civil lawsuit. . County officials did not identify the deputies involved. Officials said all were later required to take remedial training courses and attend briefings on surveillance techniques, but they were not disciplined. After reviewing the trial transcripts, sheriff's officials concluded that the deputies did not adequately prepare for their courtroom testimony, resulting in inconsistencies. The incident occurred Jan. 22, 1997, when six sheriff's deputies conducted a surveillance on West 111th Street because of neighborhood complaints about drug sales, Principal Deputy County Counsel Johanna M. Fontenot wrote in Claims Board documents. The sheriff's deputies saw what they believed were drug sales by Newburn to people in vehicles, Fontenot wrote. During the May 1997 trial, Newburn and others testified that he was not involved in drug sales and that deputies threatened to plant evidence on him if he did not stop complaining about being detained. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and a mistrial A courtroom trial that has been terminated prior to its normal conclusion. A mistrial has no legal effect and is considered an invalid or nugatory trial. It differs from a "new trial," which recognizes that a trial was completed but was set aside so that the issues could be was declared. A retrial retrial n. a new trial granted upon the motion of the losing party, based on obvious error, bias or newly-discovered evidence. (See: newly-discovered evidence) was held in September 1997, and he was convicted of selling cocaine. He based his appeal on several issues, including records indicating deputies' testimony was partly contradicted by messages on mobile digital terminals in their patrol cars. |
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