COURT ORDERS 3309.5 SANCTIONS FOR POBR
VIOLATIONS
By
Alison Berry Wilkinson
Rains, Lucia & Wilkinson LLP
Curbing
abuses of the internal investigation process has always been an uphill
battle. But when the
Richmond Police Officers’ Association (POA) and its former president,
Chuck Whitney, fought back, they won sanctions under the Public Safety
Officers Procedural Bill of Rights (POBR) Act, despite the almost
insurmountable hurdle that required them to show that the POBR violation
was both malicious and done with intent to cause injury.
With
support of the PORAC Legal Defense Fund and the assistance of Rains,
Lucia & Wilkinson attorney Alison Berry Wilkinson, the POA and
Whitney obtained a judgment from the Contra Costa County Superior Court
that imposed both sanctions and attorneys’ fees under Government Code
section 3309.5. To our
knowledge, this is the first award of sanctions under this statute.
It
all started when the association began protesting the inadequate and
misleading investigations that were being conducted by the Richmond
Police Commission. The
association through its then-president Whitney raised many issues
concerning whether the civilian review board was trampling the rights of
accused officers. Suddenly,
in the midst of this acrimonious period, the Richmond Police Commission
decided to accept and investigate several incidents that were over two
years old, and specifically targeted Whitney.
When
Whitney, through his attorney, sought to enforce the statute of
limitations contained in Government Code section 3304, the police
commission further retaliated against him by declaring that it was going
to hold the first ever public investigations and
hearings on the allegations.
As
reported two months ago, a Temporary Restraining Order was issued by the
Contra Costa County Superior Court preventing the public hearings. A permanent injunction has now been issued preventing the
commission from holding any public
hearings or public investigations on any
complaint filed against any
member of the Richmond POA. Further,
a judgment was issued, ordering sanctions under Government Code section
3309.5. Although
the battle to curb the abuses by the police commission caused many
headaches to all involved, the court’s order imposing sanctions for
the malicious and intentional conduct is a remarkable cure.
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