City to cover damages in civil rights lawsuit

GLENDALE — A $150,000 punitive damages judgment against two Glendale Police officers will be covered by the city, city officials announced.

Councilwoman Laura Friedman made the announcement as she read from a prepared statement at the conclusion of Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Glendale Police Lt. Ian Grimes and Det. Arthur Frank were ordered to pay $75,000 each in punitive damages as part of a $1.31-million judgment against the city in a civil rights lawsuit filed by Edmond Ovasapyan.

A jury in February determined that Ovasapyan, 28, of Sunland, had been wrongly imprisoned for eight months while the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office decided whether to move forward with his case in the 2005 shooting death of 21-year-old Glendale resident Christopher Shahanzari.

In June, the city attorney appealed the resulting $1.31-million judgment to the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“District attorneys have absolute immunity for their actions, not indemnifying the officers in this case may cause them to hesitate before making necessary decisions before taking a case to the district attorney,” Friedman said.

The city is legally required to indemnify city employees acting within the course of their job duties for compensatory damages, said Ann Maurer, senior assistant city attorney.

But the law doesn’t cover punitive damages, so the City Council had to decide the matter separately.

“In a year-and-a-half, if we lose the appeal, then the city would pay the original judgment plus the $150,000 of punitive,” Maurer said. “If some settlement is reached, then they city would also pay whatever amount we agree upon and nothing by the officers.”

Attorneys on both sides of the case are scheduled to meet in December to discuss the case.

“Obviously, they are still going to try to hammer us to go down from our judgment, otherwise they would just pay it,” Ovasapyan’s attorney, Shelley Kaufman, said.

If attorneys cannot reach a deal, it will be left to the appellate court to decide as Ovasapyan awaits closure, Kaufman said. “It’s not resolved, so my client can’t put this behind him,” she said.

Despite the civil judgment, city officials have argued that the officers had probable cause to arrest Ovasapyan and “their belief was confirmed when the district attorney filed a murder charge” against him, Friedman said.

A Superior Court judge also held Ovasapyan to answer on the murder charge.

But even then, city officials said the officers continued to investigate the crime, which eventually led to the discovery of evidence that exonerated Ovasapyan. The detectives also got Shananzari’s alleged killer to confess, Friedman said.

Their actions, she said, were performed within the scope of their job duties and they acted without actual malice.

“We recognize that this was a very unfortunate incident, however . . . we find that the officers acted in good faith, without actual malice and an apparent best interest of the city of Glendale,” Friedman said.

 VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at [email protected].