Police brutality ruling could affect Mendoza suit

Rachael Levy

Monday, May 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision that shields police from some officer brutality cases may make it more difficult for a Las Vegas father to sue Metro Police over the death of his son, an attorney said.

Ramon Mendoza is seeking monetary damages from Metro in connection with the drive-by shooting of his 21-year-old son, Daniel, who died Dec. 28. Former Metro Officer Ron Mortensen, an off-duty rookie cop at the time, is on trial for the murder.

The Mendoza case and the Supreme Court case are similar in that both law enforcement officers were hired despite evidence of being prone to violence.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that although the hire of a rogue cop may be a poor one, it does not make a department liable.

The decision appears to blunt a 1989 decision that local governments can be forced to pay monetary damages when their "deliberate indifference" lets inadequately trained employees violate someone's rights.

Metro attorney Walt Cannon said the high court's decision will assist him in defending police officers against claims of excessive force and negligent hiring.

"It will make it easier to get a summary judgment," said Cannon, who represented Metro in the Mendoza case until recently. "This case will give us an additional argument ... although we have been relatively successful (in the past)."

Metro wins 75 percent of the cases filed against it, the department said. From April 1996 to the present, 15 excessive force and civil rights suits have been filed against the police department. The litigation is expected to cost about $285,000, Metro said.

But Ramon Mendoza's lawyer, Aaron Steinhoff, said he was not worried about the effects this decision may have on the case. The lawsuit alleges that Mortensen was not an isolated bad hire, but a result of a policy of negligent hiring.

Mortensen became a Metro officer in September 1995 despite a negative recommendation by a background investigator. The recommendation against hiring was based on an investigator's belief that Mortensen misled Metro about his employment history.

The investigator said Mortensen was fired as a department store security guard after being combative and that he believed Mortensen intentionally failed to report a misdemeanor traffic citation.

But the personnel director overruled the investigator's recommendation. Ramon Mendoza's attorney said the director's decision proves negligence and Metro should be liable. The father is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

The Supreme Court case involved an Oklahoma deputy sheriff accused of excessive force when he threw a woman to the ground during a traffic stop. The deputy had been hired despite a long record of misdemeanor convictions.

"Congress did not intend municipalities to be held liable unless deliberate action attributable to the municipality directly caused a deprivation of federal rights," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the court.

O'Connor was joined by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.

THE ASSOCIATED Press contributed to this story.