"In May 2023, for example, Alameda County's lawyers sought a new trial for two sheriff's deputies who were found to have illegally detained Aasylei Loggervale and her two daughters, who had fallen asleep in their car in Castro Valley in 2019. The officers were searching for two male suspects who had burgled cars in the area, but they detained the Loggervales and demanded the mother provide her ID."
"A jury awarded the Loggervale family $8.25 million for their unlawful detention four years later, but the county's attorney for the case, Kevin Gilbert, made a motion for a new trial, claiming senior U.S. district judge William Alsup had advocated for the plaintiffs, permitted incorrect statements on the record, and that the totality of circumstances in the case is troubling and problematic."
"The following appeal cost the county and its taxpayers an additional $3 million for a total settlement of $11.26 million. According to the Loggervales' lawyer, Joseph May, the initial settlement offer was approximately $750,000. In recent years, county-hired lawyers have pursued a similar litigation strategy in multiple cases, even when the outcome appeared to obviously disfavor the county's case, according to lawyers who've sued the county."
Alameda County has pursued a hawkish litigation approach that has produced years-long courtroom battles and driven millions of dollars in attorneys' fees and settlements paid by taxpayers. A highlighted case involved the illegal detention of Aasylei Loggervale and her two daughters, resulting in an $8.25 million jury award, a sought new trial, and an appeal that added $3 million, bringing the settlement to $11.26 million. The initial offer in that matter was roughly $750,000. County-hired lawyers have used similar strategies in multiple cases, turning potentially small resolutions into costly, protracted litigation.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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