Mitrice Richardson's mother files lawsuit against L.A. County, sheriff's officials

Outside the Los Angeles County office building Tuesday morning, the mother of Mitrice Richardson -- the woman missing since she was released from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's station in the dark, early morning of Sept. 17, 2009 -- said she was suing the county and sheriff's officials over the arrest and release of her daughter.

Richardson disappeared after being released into the remote Calabasas area without her car, which had been impounded, cellphone and purse. Her disappearance prompted several massive searches and an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. After discovering her diaries, police investigators concluded that she was probably suffering a severe form of bipolar disorder.

Richardson was arrested at Geoffrey's restaurant for not paying her bill. The staff told deputies that she was acting "crazy." The sheriff's department has always maintained that Richardson seemed lucid and normal during the several hours she was held at the station.

But on Tuesday, Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, cited video footage of her daughter in a holding cell that showed her behaving in an infantile manner. According Sutton, who first saw the video in late March, her daughter, at one point, clutches the screen of the holding pen and sways from side to side.

"She's grabbing at a door where she's swinging back and forth," Sutton said. "She's pulling at the back of her hair." She tries to make a call at a pay phone. Unsuccessful, she relinquishes the receiver.

Hours later, Richardson vanished.

In the suit, Sutton cites as negligent the sheriff's department's "failure to give Ms. Richardson a medical or psychiatric evaluation."

"They knew when they got the phone call from Geoffrey's that she was acting strangely," said Sutton's attorney, Leo Terrell, at the media conference outside the county building. "They saw this conduct. They ignored the conduct."

Terrell said that they were also alleging unlawful arrest. "There was an offer to pay the bill. Mitrice Richardson should not have been arrested," Terrell said. Richardson's great-grandmother had offered to give restaurant staffers a credit card over the phone but she was told that she would have to also fax a signature. (The owner of Geoffrey's said later that they requested that because otherwise the credit card company might disallow the charge.)

Although the suit seeks unspecified monetary damages, both Sutton and Terrell said the primary reason for the suit was to give them the right to demand information about the night that Richardson was arrested.

"This magical lawsuit will allow me to obtain every single document in the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department and to depose every officer and detective involved," said Terrell, who stated that he has been representing Sutton pro bono. He also said the suit would enable him to get a copy of the videotape that Sutton was allowed to view but not take.

LAPD officials, who were not involved in her arrest or subsequent release, are not named in this suit. The LAPD was asked to investigate, and two detectives spent four months full time working on the case. They continue to follow leads as they come up.

"I feel as though I am forced at this point to bring this lawsuit to get answers," said Sutton, holding a framed photo of her daughter in cap and gown for her 2008 graduation from Cal State Fullerton.

The suit also alleges wrongful death. When Terrell was asked if he believed Richardson was still alive, he answered, "No."

Her mother, who said she continues to search for her daughter, gave a more complicated answer: "My hope is she's alive…. But based on how long she's been missing, she's either being held and transported or she's dead. I have to face that possibility."

-- Carla Hall

Photo: Family handout

Comments

[j leer]

LAWSUIT?are you serious?? no wonder our city has no money! As for the L.A.P.D., well..i'm not surprised. i wish i could get in some trouble that could result on a possible lawsuit..lol..jk..i was just trying to be sarcastic

[JDub81]

Why hasn't anyone requested those deputies take a lie-detection test?

[LAist]

I'm very sorry to Ms. Richardson's family, but the county does not have an affirmative obligation to order a psych exam or to watch out for their adult daughter because Geoffrey's singular allegation . Unfortunately for the family, their attorney will be taking them on a wild ride for no legitimate reason (except for an outrageous and expensive legal bill, no doubt).

[Robert Chandler]

Listen

A young girl goes missing in the middle of the night.

A 911 call, about a female prowler in the backyard of a resident described Mitrice Richardson to a tee.

911 caller asked for sheriffs to come out... Thats where the trace stops.

Now if the Sheriffs were doing their job, did they inspect for the prowler. Did they even show up!

If they did...it would have made the sheriffs the last to see her.

If not, it would make the 911 caller the last to see her.

I will be the first to put my money that there is an officer involved in her disapperance.

I dont know, maybe she got frisky with him and he decided to show the 'prowler' a lesson. Or a resident.

A woman just does not disappear off the face of the earth. And as much attention we have seen on other kidnap victims, Mitrice Richardson deserves the same. But why not? Is it true that LASO is inept to solve a possible homicide right underneath their noses!

THE SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT IS INVOLVED!!! IM SORRY but thats my inkling. Im just going off the fishiness of the whole thing.

Just like that Van Der Sloot guy got caught, all things are made right! Don't give up!

[batteredbypd]

@LAist What do you mean the county isn't responsible?? The sheriff's are under LA County, so that is who you would have to sue.......and the Sheriff's do have an OBLIGATION to order a Psych exam, therefore leaving LA County responsible.....

[Justin]

This is a terrifying story, because my mother looks like Miss Richardson and likewise suffers from a very unfortunate mood disorderly uncannily like Mitirice's affliction.

To the Richardsons and all who cared about this woman, all my thoughts and best wishes.

[Rick]

That makes no sense. So do police officers have to order a psych evaluation for every person that acts a little strange. Are officers supposed to be experts on what strange conduct would consist of.

I would think that the person has to be a menace to others or themselves in order for the officers to request something like that. Otherwise, they would be ordering psych evals all day long costing taxpayers more money.

[Hypatia]

Y'know, I've reserved judgment about this for a long time but I think Mr. Chandler may be right. To use 'copspeak', there is something very 'hinky' about this entire case and all roads seem to lead back to the Sheriff's Dept. one way or another.

[Renee]

Again I ask, what did the family know about this young woman's condition? I am quite sure that the night in question was not the first time she was acting strangely. I am sorry for their pain, but I am sure you see a lot stranger behavior in any jail in the evening, and that the expectation would not be for a psych exam. Did the great-grandmother indicate that Mitrice was unstable when she called the restaurant? Well if she didn't know, how would she expect the police to know. I think this lawsuit is misguided.

[Tia C]

@ LAist: If you read the article, it states the attorney is representing the mother pro bono. That means free, in case you didn't know that.

This story is sad. It's obvious the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Dept f*cked up. And now this young woman with a promising life ahead of her is probably deceased. I don't blame her mother one bit for trying to get some answers.

[diaper rash]

Lets make an X,Y,Z graph of Ms. Richardsons arrest on September 16, 2010
in Malibu based on the information provided in the arrest report and the supplemental arrest report.

X1=deputy one, X2=deputy two, X3=deputy three, X4=Ms. Richardson

Y1-5=place, i.e. inside the restaurant, outside the restaurant, at sheriff vehicle,
at ms. richardsons vehicle, etc.

Z=time, i.e. 8:50pm, 8:55 pm, 9:00pm, 9:05pm, etc.

Now lets make a simple X,Y,Z graph as best as possible with information provided in the reports.

Sorry. Tried and tried. For any Z there is no definite X and Y.
For any Y there is no definite X and Z.
For any X, one cannot pin down Y and Z.

The arrest reports list three individual LASD deputies at Geoffreys restaurant.

Did they arrive in one vehicle, two vehicles, or in three separate vehicles?

Likewise how did they leave?

This information cannot be determined from the arrest reports.

The arrest report and supplemental arrest report lead to even more confusion
as they both describe an arrival at the scene and initial questioning to identify
the situation and suspect.

Yet the depiction of events lacks enough similarity
to be considered two separate arrivals and initial questioning.

We also continue to get the time Ms. Richardson is released as being 12:36am
in some reports and 1:36am in other reports.

Arrest reports are supposed to detail facts of persons, place, time, actions, speech.

The arrest reports for Ms. Richardson lack in detail and create confusion about the facts
to a degree which justify grading them as WORTHLESS.

We were told that Field Sobriety Tests (FST) were administered to Ms. Richardson
at the scene. The results of these two tests were interpreted by the deputy to indicate complete sobriety.

The arrest reports detail two tests administered - Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus
(HGN) which is a a nationly standardized FST and a tactile 30 second pulse reading taken twice with a ten minute interval which is NOT a standardized FST and for which THERE IS NO practical use in determining sobriety according to general medical literature.

Sheriff Baca himself refers to these FST's in his November 2009 report to the county board of supervisors justifying his deputies actions in the arrest of Ms. Richardson.

Yet his office has provided no response or rebuttal to the "outing"
of the improper taking of suspects pulse and total misrepresentation of the legitimacy of the pulse test as a field sobriety diagnostic.

Maybe that is because Sheriff Baca and his spokesman, Mr. Whitmore
have not yet figured out a way to deny, divert or deflect the truth.

Maybe they are just too busy planning scenarios and plotting alliances and paybacks and payoffs and occasionally hearing ghosts as the day draws near
to arrive an invitation to visit the grand jury chambers courtesy of dear Mr. Birotte.

[Sherry]

My heart goes out to the family, especially the mother of Mitrice. Yes, a psych eval should have been conducted based on witness accounts of her behavior at the restaurant. The witnesses were specific to say, and they said repeatedly, that she was acting strangely, but not intoxicated. When the police tried to insist intoxication, they were corrected by the witnesses in the restaurant who said no, she was acting wierd but not high or drunk. In those types of circumstances, the police are trained to handle the situation and what usually happens if there is an arrest is subsequent psych eval. Again, my heart goes out to the family. What happened to this poor woman is ridiculous.

[dave]

diaper rash ,your comment and ideas are idiotic