Facts

On May 28, 2008, Alberto Gutierrez was arrested for allegedly threatening Mayela Gutierrez Gil, his wife. On June 2, 2008 she obtained a restraining order against Gutierrez. Phillip Solano, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. detective, began investigating a violation of the restraining order, which allegedly occurred on June 13, 2008. On Sept 11, 2008, Solano and another detective took Gutierrez into custody alleging that he had violated the restraining order. In March of 2009, Gutierrez reported to the Sheriff's Department that Gil had threatened him at a local gas station and that it was captured by security video cameras. He reported this to defendant Russell Verduzco, a Sheriff's department deputy. Gutierrez testified that Verduzco and he visited the gas station and that Verduzco viewed the video footage and confirmed that the Gil had made the threats. Verduzco interviewed Gil at her home. She informed Verduzco that Solano was investigating her claims against Gutierrez. Verduzco called Solano. Verduzco and Solano were co-workers. After speaking with Solano, Verduzco called Gutierrez and threatened to retaliate against Gutierrez if he didn't leave Gil alone. During the investigation of the alleged restraining order violations, there were approximately 50 phone calls and 50 text messages between Solano and Gil. Few of these were recorded in Solano's case log.

In April of 2010, the criminal trial took place. Prior to trial, Gil contacted Solano to discuss a traffic ticket she received. The ticket was ultimately dismissed. During the trial, it was disclosed for the first time that Solano and Gil were "friends" on Facebook. Solano disclosed to the prosecutor for the first time that he and Gutierrez were communicating on Facebook. The last message, written in Spanish, read "How are you Precious. I miss you a lot." During the trial, Gil also admitted that she sent Solano a text message warning him that the Facebook message had come out during her cross examination. Ultimately, the jury acquitted Gutierrez.

Later, Gutierrez filed suit against Solano and the County of Los Angeles, asserting under 42 USC section 1983 that Solano arrested him without probable cause and that Solano, Verduzco and Gil conspired to violate his due process rights and that the County permitted deputies to have intimate personal relationships with victims.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
At trial, Plaintiff contended that Solano lacked probable cause to arrest him in September 2008, that Solano failed to disclose the Facebook messages, the communication regarding the traffic ticket and the various phone calls and text messages between the two, that Verduzco failed to disclose what he had seen on the gas station video tape, and that Solano, Gil and Verduzco had conspired to violate Plaintiff's due process rights and have him illegally imprisoned.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants argued that Plaintiff's claims were barred because his arrest was based on probable cause. Also, Defendant argued that the Section 1983 claims failed because Plaintiff was acquitted, and that Solano was entitled to qualified immunity. Last, Defendant argued that the county did not have a practice of allowing deputies to be involved with victims.

Result

The jury found that there was probable cause to arrest Plaintiff, but that Solano and Verduzco had failed to disclose material evidence. The jury also found that there was a conspiracy between Solano and Gil to violate Plaintiff's civil rights. The verdict amounts were as follows: Solano $300,000 in compensatory damages, $7,500 in punitive damages; Verduzco $150,000 in compensatory damages.

Other Information

Mayela Gutierrez Gil, in pro per.