LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Four men arrested by the county's sheriff in 2011 on marijuana charges have filed a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations in a case the District Attorney's Office ultimately refused to prosecute.
Ukiah attorney Richard Knox filed the lawsuit on Friday on behalf of Lake County residents Bo Sheffer and Jesus Mendoza, David Garcia-Shope of Napa County, and Eduardo Corona of Mendocino County.
The suit names Sheriff Frank Rivero and the Lake County Sheriff's Office, along with 20 as-yet unidentified individuals, or “does.”
The sheriff's office did not respond on Friday for a request for comment.
County Counsel Anita Grant said on Friday she had not yet seen the lawsuit.
The four men allege Rivero violated their constitutional rights, arresting them without sufficient evidence, conducting searches without warrants, falsely imprisoning them, subjecting them to illegal in-field lineups and questioning them without giving them the right to counsel.
The suit seeks compensatory general and special damages; punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to make an example of the individual defendant and to deter future misconduct”; reasonable attorney's fees; and “any other relief that the court may deem just and proper.”
The four plaintiffs had filed a tort claim with the county in April 2012 seeking damages in excess of $10,000. The case filed Friday said they have never received a written rejection of that 2012 claim; such claims usually are handled within 45 days.
Grant said claims for monetary damages like this latest case will go through the county's third-party liability insurance administrator, the George Hills Co., which she said will assign outside counsel.
Rivero personally arrested Sheffer, Mendoza, Garcia-Shope and Corona on Nov. 15, 2011, for what amounted to the alleged sale of $3 worth of marijuana, according to case documents.
District Attorney Don Anderson ordered the four released from jail and refused to prosecute the case because he said the evidence was weak, as Lake County News has reported.
The suit alleges that at 7 a.m. Nov. 15, 2011, Rivero received a phone call from a personal friend whose 16-year-old son was in possession of three marijuana joints. The teen originally said Mendoza had sold the marijuana to him.
Rivero contacted Mendoza and Corona at their Hidden Valley Lake home, arrested them, placed them in the back of his patrol car where he continued to question them, then transported them to Middletown High School, case documents state.
Contacted by Rivero at the school, the teen who had allegedly purchased the marijuana and originally identified Mendoza as having sold it to him, admitted to lying, saying Mendoza hadn't sold it to him and that the person who had was named “Bo.”
The teen also is alleged to have told Rivero that Mendoza, Corona and Garcia-Shope were not involved in the sales transaction.
The suit alleges that the teen identified Mendoza and Corona, seated in the back of the vehicle, as part of an illegal field lineup.
“Despite the fact that the witness admitted he had lied to Sheriff Rivero about the facts of the incident, and despite there being no probable cause to arrest, Sheriff Rivero again placed Mendoza and Corona under arrest, and continued to imprison them in the cage and locked patrol vehicle,” the suit stated.
Rivero then went to the Sheffer residence in Middletown, where he conducted a traffic stop on Juliana Sheffer, demanding she return to her residence where he told her he wanted to talk to her son, Bo.
Rivero is reported to have told Juliana Sheffer that if she did not give him permission to search the residence he would obtain a search warrant.
The suit alleges the Rivero knew he did not have probable cause to secure a search warrant, that his true intention was to enter the residence to arrest Bo Sheffer, and that he lied and coerced Juliana Sheffer into giving him permission to enter the residence in order to conduct a search and make the arrest.
Rivero is alleged to arrested Bo Sheffer, handcuffed him and placed him in the rear of another officer’s patrol vehicle, and then conducted a search of Bo Sheffer's room without a search warrant and without Bo Sheffer's consent, in violation of his constitutional rights.
The sheriff demanded Garcia-Shope exit Sheffer’s residence and then placed him under arrest as well, placing him in the back of another patrol car.
Rivero then transported the four to Middletown High School, where he had the teen who purchased the marijuana identify them as part of another unauthorized infield lineup, according to the case narrative.
All four were later transported to the Lake County Jail where they were booked. Rivero then returned to the Sheffer home and impounded a 1999 Audi that had been in the possession of Garcia-Shope.
The case has eight causes of action – false arrest/imprisonment, violation of constitutional rights, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery, conversion, invasion of privacy and violation of plaintiffs' civil rights.
Rivero is accused of acting maliciously and oppressively and being guilty of “despicable conduct.”
It's not clear who would pay have to pay for the punitive damages in the event that the case moves forward and the plaintiffs are successful.
Grant said the county is not legally required to indemnify – or protect – a county employee from punitive damages, adding that ultimately that would be a question for the Board of Supervisors.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.