DORNER v. LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
CHRISTOPHER DORNER, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT et al., Defendants and Respondents.
No. B225674.
Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Four.
Filed October 3, 2011.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTSWILLHITE, Acting P. J.
Appellant Christopher Dorner, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), made a complaint against his field training officer, Sergeant Teresa Evans, accusing her of kicking a suspect, Christopher Gettler (Gettler). The Los Angeles Police Department Board of Rights (Board) found that appellant's complaint was false and therefore terminated his employment for making false statements. Appellant filed a petition for a writ of administrative mandamus in the superior court pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5, seeking to overturn the decision of the Board. The superior court denied his petition, and he now appeals. We affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUNDAppellant was charged in a formal written complaint with three counts: count 1, on August 10, 2007, making false statements to Sergeant D. Deming, who was conducting an official investigation; count 2, on October 9, 2007, making false statements to Detectives S. Gallegos and T. Lai, who were conducting an official investigation; count 3, on August 10, 2007, making a personnel complaint that he knew or should have known was false. The Board held a series of hearings at which the following witnesses testified: appellant, Captain Donald Deming, Sergeant Evans, Sergeant Leonard Perez, Sergeant Eddie Hernandez of the Los Angeles Port Police, Sergeant Phil Jackson, Sergeant Julie McInnis, Detective Shelly Villanueva (formerly Gallegos), Christopher Adrid, Ashlye Perez, Christopher Gettler, and Richard Gettler.
Testimony of Captain Deming1
In August 2007, Captain Deming was a sergeant assigned as an assistant watch commander at the Harbor Division of the LAPD. On August 10, 2007, appellant spoke with Captain Deming about an incident on July 28, 2007, involving the use of force during Gettler's arrest at a DoubleTree Hotel in San Pedro.
1. At the time of the hearing, he was a captain with the Lompoc Police Department.
2. Appellant left for a 13-month military deployment shortly after his graduation from the police academy.
3. Because we find the findings supported by substantial evidence, we need not consider respondents' assertion that appellant waived the substantial evidence issue.