Facts

Jeremy Bassett sued the City of Burbank, Burbank police officers Scott LaChasse, Anthony Valento and Mark Armendariz, and plaintiff's estranged wife Gayle Bassett, regarding criminal charges filed against plaintiff that alleged violation of a restraining order.

Plaintiff's fiancée, April Rickman, and his children G.B., R.B., J.B. and A.B., also sued defendants relating to Valento's actions.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Around September 26, 2012, Jeremy was arrested for allegedly inflicting corporeal injury on a spouse and making terrorist threats. These allegations were untrue, and allegedly fabricated by Valento and Jeremy's wife Gayle. He alleged that Armendariz, the arresting officer and close friend to Valento, was in on the conspiracy. Around November 2012, Jeremy was arrested for allegedly violating a protective order and other court orders. He claimed that there was no probable cause for his arrests and that he did not violate any protective or other court orders. Jeremy was charged with multiple crimes.

Plaintiffs claimed Valento then regularly attempted to extort Jeremy for money, telling him he could make the charges disappear and that things would be much worse if he did not cooperate. Valento and Gayle allegedly came up with the extortion scheme in order to gain concessions from Jeremy during his divorce proceedings with Gayle. The Burbank Police Dept. eventually opened an investigation into Valento and the criminal charges against Valento were later dismissed.

Rickman alleged that Valento threatened and intimidated her in an attempt to get her to influence Jeremy. B.P., a minor, alleged that Valento falsely imprisoned and restrained him, which was witnessed by his siblings R.B., J.B. and A.B. Plaintiffs alleged causes of action for violation of due process through malicious prosecution/false imprisonment, violation of constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, conspiracy to violate plaintiff's Fourteenth Amendment rights, municipal liability for violation of constitutional rights, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Bane Act, and negligent supervision.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants contended that there was probable cause for the arrests, and that Armendariz was not friends with Valento and had no knowledge of Valento's relationship with Gayle Bassett. Defendants claimed there were independent statements and physical evidence to support the first arrest. Defendants further contended the District Attorney utilized independent judgment in determining there was probable cause for the arrest and prosecution of Jeremy Bassett. Defendants further claimed that on the subsequent charges, there were independent witnesses to support the claims. They also stated that there was corroboration from Jeremy himself for one of the claims of violating the restraining order.

With respect to the claims of the children, defendants pointed out that was investigated by a different law enforcement agency, which found no corroboration to protect the claims. Defendants also claimed that Jeremy took all of the family money, leaving Gayle Bassett without money for food, or shelter, that their four children were left homeless being forced to sleep in a car and go without food or basic medical treatment. The only reason these events came up in the divorce was a claim of lack of paying support obligations in which Jeremy repeatedly violated the court's orders for support.

Settlement Discussions

According to plaintiffs, defendants previously offered to settle for $300,000 under FRCP 68.

Result

The City of Burbank, LaChasse, Valento and Gayle Bassett settled with G.B. for $15,000. $1,500 was approved for attorney fees, leaving G.B.'s net proceeds of $13,500.

Other Information

Valento plead guilty to lying to federal authorities and agreed to 30 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release as part of the plea. Gayle Bassett also agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to deprive Jeremy Bassett of his constitutional rights by trying to have him prosecuted for violating a restraining order without probable cause.