Westminster Ca Suits

A federal civil trial involving the police shooting of an 18-year-old Westminster man after a melee broke out during his mother's birthday party got off to an emotional start Thursday when the young man's father testified how he watched his son die. A tearful Joel Martinez Sr. described to jurors how he saw his son, Frank Anthony Martinez, collapse on a gravel driveway after being shot once in the chest by Westminster Police Officer Steven Phillips.

The City Council voted last week to pay any punitive damages assessed against 10 police officers and one other city employee in a lawsuit filed by the family of Tuan Tang, 19, who died in 1998 after being arrested. The federal civil lawsuit, filed in 1999, alleges that police and the city employee failed to properly evaluate Tang's physical condition after he was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

The City Council voted last week to pay any punitive damages assessed against 10 police officers and one other city employee in a lawsuit filed by the family of Tuan Tang, 19, who died in 1998 after being arrested. The federal civil lawsuit, filed in 1999, alleges that police and the city employee failed to properly evaluate Tang's physical condition after he was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Westminster City Councilman Tony Lam filed a lawsuit against the city last week, seeking reimbursement for attorney fees that he paid in an effort to keep protesters away from his restaurant. The suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court on Wednesday, argues that Lam should be paid because he is a city employee and took the advice of the city attorney to stay away from massive protests on Bolsa Avenue in January 1999.

The City Council has rejected a $1-million claim for damages by a citizens group that has organized Tet Festival celebrations in Little Saigon for nearly two decades. Members of the Little Saigon Tet Festival Committee said they may file a lawsuit against the city seeking $1 million in damages stemming from the abrupt cancellation of the festival in January. The group contends that Mayor Frank Fry Jr.

After awarding $1.9 million in compensatory damages to Westminster firefighters whose civil rights were violated, a federal jury Friday ordered several city officials--including the mayor--to pay $570,000 in punitive damages for their role in firing or disciplining the employees.

Westminster Mayor Charles V. Smith described in federal court Wednesday the acrimonious relationship between city leaders and firefighters, four of whom won a civil rights judgment against the city. A day after a jury awarded $1.

Westminster's fire chief has filed a lawsuit against the city, charging that officials violated his privacy by demanding that he undergo psychiatric evaluation after he refused to send his firefighters to Los Angeles during the riots. Chief D'Wayne Scott, 51, a 22-year veteran of the department, was placed on paid administrative leave May 27.

The City Council has agreed to set aside another $100,000 to pay a Los Angeles law firm to represent the city in a dispute with Fire Chief D'Wayne Scott. The council's unanimous approval of the allocation brings to $150,000 the amount the city has set aside to spend on attorneys in the dispute. The firm--Liebert, Cassidy & Frierson--has been working since May, interviewing city employees about Scott's fitness for duty. The firm is also defending the city against Scott's lawsuit.

The City Council has authorized the city attorney to begin research on a lawsuit charging the state with illegally taking city funds. City Attorney Richard Jones said that this fiscal year, which begins July 1, Gov. Pete Wilson is proposing to take $2.7 billion from local budgets statewide, which means usurping all property taxes from special districts and increasing the amount of money taken from redevelopment agencies.

A year after he provoked a storm of protest from the Vietnamese American community with his display of Communist icons, Truong Van Tran sued the city of Westminster and others Thursday for allegedly violating his free speech rights. The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, accuses city officials, including Police Chief James Cook, of conspiring with the protesters and failing to enforce the law.

A year after he provoked a storm of protest from the Vietnamese American community with his display of Communist icons, Truong Van Tran sued the city of Westminster and others Thursday for allegedly violating his free speech rights. The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, accuses city officials, including Police Chief James Cook, of conspiring with the protesters and failing to enforce the law.

A group of Westminster homeowners Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the city and engineering contractors, alleging that their negligence caused last year's water-storage tank rupture that dumped 5 million gallons into their neighborhood. The 10 homeowners allege that company and city officials knew that the aging water tank was a hazard but failed to act. They are seeking unspecified damages to compensate them for homes damaged or destroyed.

The family of a Westminster man who was arrested after a medical emergency call and later died at the hospital has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages, the family's attorneys said Tuesday. According to the lawsuit, family members called for paramedics Oct. 10 to report that Tuan Tang, 19, appeared seriously ill, possibly because of a drug overdose. But police officers and paramedics failed to properly evaluate his medical condition, the suit contends.

The City Council recently denied a $20-million wrongful death claim filed by a family who alleged that police and a county social worker contributed to the death of an 89-year-old man by forcibly removing him from his home and placing him in a hospital. The Johnson family claimed that a police officer and county social worker entered their Cornell Avenue home without a warrant on June 19, 1998, based on a tip that family members were drugging John W. Johnson and his wife, Alice.

The city has agreed to pay Tet Festival organizers $42,500 to settle a lawsuit filed over the cancellation of last year's Tet celebration. Festival organizers had contended that the cancellation was a violation of Vietnamese Americans' right to freedom of religion. "This vindicates the organization," said attorney Jonathan Slipp, who represented the Little Saigon Tet Festival Committee.

The City Council today will consider a request from the city attorney for the allocation to his office of an additional $100,000, half of which would be used for legal fees related to a lawsuit filed against the city by the Westminster Firefighters Assn. With seven months left in the 1993-94 fiscal year, the city's legal expenses are three times higher than the $60,000 that was budgeted, officials said. City Atty.

The City Council will consider spending $20,000 to repair damaged curbs, gutters and sidewalks on three residential streets at its meeting tonight, but area homeowners who contend that shifting soil has caused structural damage to their homes say that the amount is not enough.

Saying they want to avoid further expense to taxpayers, officials Tuesday decided to settle a lawsuit with two firefighters who sued the city and were awarded $700,000 Monday by an Orange County jury. On Tuesday, the jury was scheduled to review punitive damages for Timothy Murphy and Donald Tully, who alleged that they were induced to leave secure jobs to become assistant chiefs in Westminster, only to be fired when the department was disbanded.

A trial involving two Orange County Fire Authority captains, who allege they were hired fraudulently by the city just months before its department was disbanded, has begun in Orange County Superior Court. Tim Murphy and Donald Tully claim they were induced to leave secure jobs to become assistant chiefs in Westminster. They are suing for loss of income, benefits and punitive damages. Defendants in the lawsuit include Charles V.