VENTURA : Jury Rejects Claims of Police Brutality

Two Ventura police officers did not use excessive force to arrest three people during a melee at an Independence Day party in 1986, a jury has ruled.

The incident, involving Officers Raymond Broomfield and Robert Balding, was captured on tape by an amateur photographer.

But jurors in Ventura County Superior Court rejected claims of police brutality Thursday after viewing a portion of the videotape.

“The result was appropriate,” said Joseph Henderson, the attorney for the officers. “And it was a proper vindication of professional officers in a difficult situation, performing their responsibilities.”

Allan Kelly, Sean Kane and Patricia Del Monte had sought at least $115,000 for injuries and losses they claimed resulted from being roughed up during their arrests on July 4, 1986.

A block party was being held that day on Brunswick Lane, a short street in the Pierpont Bay area of Ventura that runs from the beach to Pierpont Boulevard. A city permit had been requested for a block party to go until 7 p.m., but it was only valid until 4 p.m., Henderson said.

“Police were called,” Henderson said. “They requested that the band and party-goers disperse, but the party-goers, thinking the permit went to 7 p.m., became reluctant and hostile. They did not move, arrests occurred and the crowd got more hostile. More police were called to disperse the crowd, and it was during those events that the arrests (of the three plaintiffs) were made.”

The melee was captured on videotape by schoolteacher Chuck Enterline from a rooftop. The tape was replayed on television, Henderson said.

Police arrested Kane, a truck driver from Santa Barbara; Kelly, a carpenter and musician from Ventura, and Del Monte, also from Ventura. None was prosecuted.

Another brutality lawsuit was filed against the city by Greg Pate, formerly of Ventura, who also was arrested by Balding during the party. The city paid $11,000 to settle that lawsuit, said Chief Assistant City Atty. Mike Dougherty, but the settlement was not an admission of guilt by the city.

Dougherty said the settlement with Pate “was a judgment call. The court had consolidated all four cases, but we did not think they should have been consolidated.”

The city settled with Pate, Dougherty said, to separate his case from the three whose trial just concluded.

Broomfield is a corporal and veteran of more than 20 years with the Ventura Police Department. Balding left the department in 1987. Henderson said Balding’s departure had nothing to do with the brutality case.