Jury orders CHP officers to pay Ramona man $4.5M

By: Staff and wire reports | Tuesday, April 27, 2004 11:35 PM PDT ∞

EL CAJON ---- A Superior Court jury has ordered two California Highway Patrol officers to pay a total of more than $4.5 million to a Ramona man who alleged they retaliated against him after he lodged a complaint about one of the officers. The CHP plans to appeal Monday's decision.

Steve Grassilli, 44, alleged that officers stopped him and ticketed him repeatedly after he complained that Officer Richard Barr had someone illegally remove a catalytic converter from Barr's pickup truck.

"He's not a guy that cares about the money," Grassilli's attorney, Greg Garrison, said of his client. "These guys did something wrong and said bad things about him. He wanted accountability."

If jurors had awarded Grassilli $1 and said the officers were wrong, Grassilli would not have cared about the money, Garrison said.

Barr and Officer Michael Toth, who retired four years ago, and their attorney, Deputy Attorney General David Taglienti, declined to comment. CHP Commissioner D.O. Helmick issued a written statement from Sacramento saying the CHP would appeal.

"I am extremely disappointed and amazed at this decision," Helmick said in writing. "I disagree entirely with it. We will look at every way humanly possible to appeal it."

Grassilli filed a complaint in March 1997 after a friend told him that he'd been hired to remove a catalytic converter from Barr's pickup truck. Removing the converter gave the truck, which Barr used to tow a boat, extra power. Removing the converter was illegal.

After Grassilli filed the complaint, Barr began ticketing the Ramona man and a supplier who worked with him. The ticketing became so frequent that the supplier stopped working with Grassilli, ruining his water-tank installation business.

Over five years, Grassilli was stopped 13 times for smog violations, having an obstructed view in his vehicle or improperly hauling the water tanks, he said. Officers also impounded a truck that was found to be improperly registered.

Garrison said only six CHP officers work in Ramona and all said they knew Grassilli and the vehicles used in his business and never had a problem with him, only citing him a couple of times for speeding. But after Grassilli lodged a complaint about Barr, he and others who worked with him were pulled over, Garrison said.

"You should be able to complain about the government without retaliation," Garrison said.

Two CHP officers, Craig Thetford and Michael Clauser, testified that they felt pressured by CHP officials to lie under oath to support Barr. Thetford said he was told to target Grassilli for ticketing; Clauser testified Grassilli had properly hauled the water tanks, contrary to Barr's assertions.

Jurors voted 9-3 to decide that Grassilli was entitled to $3 million in punitive damages from Barr, who remains on active duty in Ramona, and more than $1 million from Toth, who retired four years ago. Last week, the jury awarded Grassilli $510,000 in compensatory damages after finding his civil rights were violated.

Garrison said the CHP typically pays monetary awards when officers are sued. Taglienti had urged jurors to award less than $50,000 in punitive damages.

One of the jurors said she hoped the verdict sent a message to the CHP.

"I hope this shakes up the CHP like you can't believe," juror Saundra Swanson said.

Monday's verdict was the second time a jury resolved Grassilli's case. At the first trial, a different jury ruled in favor of the CHP officers. That decision was overturned on appeal in 2002, when the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled the trial judge had wrongly prohibited Grassilli's attorneys from presenting evidence about two incidents in which Barr stopped trucks owned and driven by someone other than Grassilli but that were carrying Grassilli's work equipment.

Staff writer Scott Marshall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.