Agreement reached in 2nd Inglewood police-abuse lawsuit after trial starts

A day after a trial started in a police-abuse lawsuit against a controversial former Inglewood officer, a judge approved a settlement in which the city will pay $590,000, lawyers said. Last Wednesday's action marked the second time there was a settlement in the lawsuit Surjue filed against the city of Inglewood, former police officer Jeremy Morse and officer Bijan Darvish. Last year, Surjue said she agreed to a $470,000 settlement, but that deal was nixed after she later said her lawyers at the time and U.S. District Judge S. James Otero pressured her into settling her case. Otero later ordered the case to trial, which started Tuesday with jury selection. Testimony was slated to begin Wednesday but the new accord ended the trial. Surjue's new lawyer Joseph L. Shalant said his client was pleased with the new agreement, which he called "final." "It's a very fair settlement," Shalant said. As part of the agreement, the claims against Morse, Darvish and other officers would be dismissed and the city of Inglewood will be the sole defendant, Shalant said. Surjue's lawsuit claimed that in October 2001, Morse and Darvish illegally entered her house, then Morse rushed toward her and pushed her into a wall and stairway railing. She fell down and fractured her coccyx, the suit contends. Glave said defense lawyers would have challenged Surjue's account and he was ready to argue that medical records showed "no objective signs of any assault taking place that night." [more]

Pictured above: Officer Morse was criminally charged and fired after he was seen on a widely broadcast videotape beating and slamming 16 year old, Donovan Jackson while he was handcuffed in July 2002. The criminal charges were dropped [more]