$5.9 Million Settlement for Woman Assaulted by San Diego Police Officer During Traffic Stop
After trial: The case settled in September 2014 after the federal court had already held the city liable, and the City Council approved it that October, so no appeal applies. The city's insurance carriers paid about $5.7 million and the city about $200,000.
Won by Dicks & Workman and Greene Broillet & Wheeler.
A woman identified as Jane Doe sued San Diego after officer Anthony Arevalos assaulted her in a 7-Eleven bathroom following a March 2011 traffic stop. A federal judge held the city liable in March 2014, leaving damages for a jury. The city settled in September 2014 for $5.9 million, including about $3 million in attorneys' fees and costs, with insurers paying most of it.
What happened
On March 8, 2011, San Diego police officer Anthony Arevalos pulled over a young woman in the East Village on a traffic violation. Prosecutors said he agreed to skip a DUI charge in exchange for her underwear, then followed her into the bathroom of a nearby 7-Eleven. She alleged that he touched her there. She sued the city in federal court under the name Jane Doe, one of 13 women who brought claims against San Diego over Arevalos's conduct.
Arevalos was convicted in November 2011 on multiple felony counts, including sexual battery, assault and soliciting bribes while in uniform, and went to prison. The civil case against the city turned on a narrower question: whether he was acting as a police officer when it happened. The city argued otherwise and said Jane Doe shared fault for the bargain she struck with him.
In March 2014, U.S. District Judge Michael Anello rejected those arguments and granted summary judgment on liability. He found that Arevalos was in uniform and on duty, so the city answered for his actions, and he cited a recorded call in which Arevalos described the encounter himself. A later reversal of two of the criminal counts, the judge wrote, had no bearing on the evidence before the court. The remaining issues, including her damages, were set for a jury trial. Anello did not rule on Jane Doe's separate request for an outside monitor of police procedures.
The same month the court dismissed claims against nine of Arevalos's supervisors, including former Police Chief William Lansdowne, after finding no evidence that they knew of his misconduct and failed to act. The city's responsibility for Arevalos himself stayed in place.
In September 2014, shortly before the damages trial, the case settled for $5.9 million. About $5.7 million came from the city's insurance carriers and roughly $200,000 from the city. The total included about $3 million in attorneys' fees and costs. The figure was roughly double what the other 12 women received combined, and it resolved the last active case against the city brought by Arevalos's victims.
Browne Greene of Greene, Broillet & Wheeler, with Linda Workman and Joseph G. Dicks of Dicks & Workman in San Diego, represented Jane Doe. The settlement did not include the federal monitor her lawsuit had sought. Workman said her client was proud to have played a part in making sure it does not happen to anyone else. Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said the department was glad to put the matter behind it and focus on rebuilding.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.NBC 7 San Diego, '$5.9M Paid to Settle Ex-Cop Anthony Arevalos Civil Lawsuit', Sept. 25, 2014·Archived copy
- 2.City of San Diego, Office of the City Attorney, press release on Doe v. City of San Diego, No. 12-cv-689-MMA-DHB, Mar. 28, 2014·Archived copy
- 3.Los Angeles Daily Journal, 'San Diego settles sexual misconduct case for $6M', Sept. 2014·Archived copy
- 4.NBC 7 San Diego, 'Judge Grants Ruling for Corrupt Ex-Cop's Victim in Civil Case', Mar. 17, 2014·Archived copy
- 5.Times of San Diego, 'Costly End to Shameful Episode: $5.9M Settles Police Sex Case', Oct. 28, 2014·Archived copy
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