After Anthony Goodrow complained that he had been brutalized by Hawthorne police officers during an arrest nearly three years ago, department officials said they "conducted an in-depth and thorough internal investigation."
Their conclusion: Officers acted appropriately and did not use excessive force.
That finding, however, appears at odds with the city's payment of $1 million in late January to settle Goodrow's lawsuit alleging excessive force.
Evidence in the case included a photograph that Goodrow's attorneys say shows an officer about to kick their client in the face; a police video of officers slapping high-fives while an injured Goodrow was booked into the city's jail; and reports from the officers acknowledging that they punched and kicked Goodrow several times during the arrest.
A Times review of records in the lawsuit found that internal affairs investigators never interviewed Goodrow nor the officers involved, one of whom was the police chief's son.
Goodrow's attorneys say internal affairs also failed to contact several witnesses who bolstered their client's claim that he was kicked in the face so hard that his jaw was broken.
Experts on police misconduct investigations said Hawthorne's probe fell far short of how other law enforcement agencies handle similar complaints. At many departments, they said, it is standard practice to interview officers accused of misconduct, and agencies will order officers to cooperate if need be.
"There is really no excuse for not doing it," said Merrick Bobb, a Los Angeles-based attorney and national expert on police practices.
Police Chief Michael Heffner declined to talk about his department's investigation or his son's involvement in the case. Officer Thomas Heffner said he punched Goodrow several times during the July 21, 2006, arrest, records show.
Goodrow, 26, was at a house party with his then-girlfriend, Karla Henriquez, when police responded to a noise complaint. Henriquez, 25, complained loudly that the officer had no right to enter the home and insulted Heffner, prompting another officer to take her into custody.
Goodrow said he questioned her arrest and was asked whether he wanted to go with his girlfriend. When he replied yes, the officers grabbed him, he said.
Officers said in police reports and depositions that Goodrow initiated the confrontation by cursing and acting belligerently, taking a "fighting stance" by clenching his fists and puffing out his chest.
