Los Angeles Police Protective League v. Gates

579 F. Supp. 36, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20333
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedJanuary 17, 1984
DocketCV 82-3392 RG (MCx)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 579 F. Supp. 36 (Los Angeles Police Protective League v. Gates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Los Angeles Police Protective League v. Gates, 579 F. Supp. 36, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20333 (C.D. Cal. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

GADBOIS, District Judge.

This lawsuit arises out of a 1981-82 investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, (“LAPD”), into widespread corruption among officers of the Hollywood Division. In late 1981, Internal Affairs Division (“IAD”) investigators learned that Hollywood Division officers were committing on-duty burglaries. IAD set up a “sting” operation which resulted in the December 7, 1981 arrest of two LAPD officers — Ronald Venegas and Jack Meyers— as they left the sting site with stolen property.

Several other Hollywood Division officers, including Roger Gibson, reported to the sting site on December 7. IAD questioned and searched those officers immediately after they returned to the station in order to discover whether any of them had *39 stolen chemically-dusted money from the burglarized store. The search produced no evidence of theft by Gibson. Nevertheless, he eventually became a suspect in IAD’s investigation into widespread misconduct in the Division.

During that investigation, IAD interviewed Gibson several times. While interviewing him on January 20, 1982, IAD gave him his Miranda rights, and ordered him not to discuss the investigation with other suspects or witnesses in the Division until IAD had completed its investigation. After the interview, investigators searched Gibson’s property for evidence of stolen tools and appliances. On April 15, investigators gave Gibson an administrative order to allow the search of his garage and private vehicles for stolen property. Gibson refused, and was charged with insubordination.

Three months after IAD finished its- investigation, the Board of Rights held an administrative disciplinary hearing. The Board found Gibson guilty of thirteen charges, including insubordination and lying to investigators about on-duty drinking and sex with prostitutes. Gibson was found not guilty of committing on-duty burglaries. LAPD fired Gibson, but he was never criminally prosecuted.

On January 14, 1983, plaintiffs — Los Angeles Police Protective League (“LAPPL”), Roger Gibson, and Gibson’s wife and children — filed an amended complaint seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of plaintiffs’ civil rights during the investigation. Defendants have moved for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment claims. Plaintiffs’ due process and privacy claims, and their pendent state claims, will be addressed later in the litigation.

I.

FIRST AMENDMENT CHALLENGE Plaintiffs challenge the order forbidding Gibson from discussing the investigation with other suspects or witnesses in the Hollywood Division until IAD had completed its investigation. Plaintiffs claim that the order infringed Gibson’s right of free speech and was vague and overbroad,

A. Infringement of Gibson’s Free Speech

The Supreme Court, in Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 568, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 1734, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968), established the test for determining whether governmental restrictions on its employees’ speech violated the First Amendment. 1

The problem in any case is to arrive at a balance between the interests of the [public employee], as a citizen, in commenting on matters of public concern and the interest of the State, as an employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public service it performs through its employees.

See also Fracaro v. Priddy, 514 F.Supp. 191, 196 (M.D.N.C.1981) (applying Pickering test to a state’s confidentiality order binding its employees).

Gibson’s interest in uninhibited speech consisted of discussing the investigation with other Hollywood Division suspects and witnesses during the IAD’s investigation, rather than after it. LAPD’s interest in temporarily restricting Gibson’s contact with other suspects and witnesses consisted of preventing suspected officers from collaborating on their stories, fabricating alibis, and disposing of stolen property.

The balance in this case clearly weighs in favor of the State. The State has a compelling interest in protecting the integrity and efficiency of its police departments. Kelley v. Johnson, 425 U.S. 238, 247, 96 S.Ct. 1440, 1445, 47 L.Ed.2d 708 (1976); Kannisto v. City and County of San Francisco, 541 F.2d 841, 845 (9th Cir. 1976), cert, denied, 430 U.S. 931, 97 S.Ct. 1552, 51 L.Ed.2d 775 (1977); Waters v. *40 Chaffin, 684 F.2d 833, 836 (11th Cir.1982). Especially in the face of suspected widespread corruption, the state had an overriding concern with conducting a spotless investigation and quickly restoring the public’s faith in its police department.

The order did not prevent Gibson from discussing the case with his representative, present during all interrogations, or his attorney, and the order applied only until IAD completed its investigation. Moreover, the order did not prohibit Gibson from talking with other officers about matters outside the investigation. Gibson had about three months after IAD finished its investigation to discuss the case with other Hollywood Division officers, and prepare his defense.

Plaintiffs complain that two witnesses died before IAD lifted the order, so that Gibson never had the opportunity to interview them. First, even had there been no order, they might have died before Gibson had a chance to interview them. Second, on balance, the State’s interest in effectively investigating police corruption outweighed the speculative chance that a witness would die during IAD’s eight-month investigation. Third, plaintiffs have not shown how any testimony from the dead witnesses would have materially helped Gibson’s defense.

The cases cited by plaintiffs holding that the government may not impose an obligation of secrecy on grand jury witnesses may easily be distinguished. In Re Russo, 53 F.R.D. 564, 569-71 (C.D.Cal.1971), determined whether the government had to provide a witness with a transcript of his grand jury testimony. The court decided the case under F.R.Crim.P. Rule 6(e), not the First Amendment; the issue of freedom of expression did not arise. Moreover, under First Amendment analysis, a grand jury witness does not stand in the same position as a government employee. Pickering left no doubt that the First Amendment allows significantly greater restrictions by the government on its employees’ employment-related speech than on the speech of regular citizens. Pickering v. Bd. of Education, 391 U.S. at 568, 88 S.Ct. at 1734. In Re Vescovo Special Grand Jury, 473 F.Supp. 1335, 1336 (C.D.Cal. 1979), may be distinguished on essentially the same grounds as Russo.

Beacon Journal Pub. Co. v. Unger, 532 F.Supp.

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579 F. Supp. 36, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/los-angeles-police-protective-league-v-gates-cacd-1984.