Nearly $2M settlement reached in LAPD officers’ rape cases

Attorneys at Miller Barondess LLP have reached a tentative settlement with the city of Los Angeles in a case involving two narcotics officers accused of rape.

In a federal court filing Monday, attorneys for both parties said the victim, the third of four women who were assaulted by the same two officers, would receive $1.975 million, pending approval from the Los Angeles City Council.

"The police have significant power over citizens, and the LAPD is supposed to use the power to 'protect and serve,'" said plaintiffs' attorney Daniel S. Miller, founding partner at Miller Barondess. "These two LAPD officers abused their power to sexually assault multiple victims. Their conduct here is appalling."

This is the third civil suit against the officers and the city. Doe v. Valenzuela 16-cv-2085 (C.D. Cal., filed Mar. 28, 2016). The mediation, conducted by Richard T. Copeland of Glendale, constitutes the highest pay out so far.

That may be because the other two cases settled before the criminal case against the officers concluded. In February, both officers pleaded no contest to felony charges and were sentenced to 25 years each. People v. Nichols et al., BA444092 (LA Super. Ct., filed Feb. 16, 2016).

According to the complaint in federal court, officers James Nichols and Luis Valenzuela raped the plaintiff twice in their police vehicle while on duty. It also states the officers committed similar sexual assaults on at least four other women between 2008 and 2010.

In each instance, the officers would "find a vulnerable victim (usually a drug user), earn her trust, and then threaten her with arrest," court documents said. "Then, using the LAPD's Jetta and acting under color of authority, drive her to a secluded place and force her to perform a sexual act on one of the officers."

Miller represented one of the previous victims, Tara McMahon, who said she was sexually assaulted and then told by the police internal affairs department to not hire a lawyer, according to the complaint filed in federal court. McMahon v. Valenzuela, 14-cv-2085 (C.D. Cal., filed Mar. 19, 2014). McMahon received a $750,000 settlement in February 2016.

U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder presided over both civil cases. The officers, who were both pro se defendants in the civil litigation, originally denied all allegations asserted by Jane Doe but were ordered into mediation shortly after their conviction in March.

The city attorney declined comment for this story.