Judge Favors an Inquiry Into Sheriff’s Department : Law enforcement: Hatter, who is hearing a civil rights suit against the agency, sides with those who have called for the creation of a panel similar to the Christopher Commission.

A federal court judge who is hearing a civil rights case against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Monday that he favors an independent investigation of the department, similar to the probe of the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rodney G. King beating.

U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter made his comment on the eve of today’s Board of Supervisors hearing on alleged brutality in the Sheriff’s Department.

The judge sided with those who have asked the supervisors to form a panel, similar to the Christopher Commission, to investigate alleged misconduct by deputies. He stopped short of formally requesting a probe.

“I am not requesting that of them, but that’s the sentiment (of this court),” said Hatter, who told attorneys planning to appear at today’s public hearing to convey his message to the board. The judge did not elaborate and could not be reached later for comment.

Hatter’s impromptu remarks came at the end of a court hearing into a civil rights complaint against sheriff’s deputies at the Lynwood station.

The class-action lawsuit, which involves 70 plaintiffs, accuses Lynwood deputies of engaging in repeated beatings, shootings, racial abuse and wanton destruction of property during raids in 1990 and 1991. The lawsuit was filed by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Police Misconduct Lawyers Referral Service.

The plaintiffs had asked Hatter to grant a preliminary injunction that would limit how Lynwood deputies carry out searches of homes and other premises and also restrict their use of force. The preliminary injunction also would prohibit racial slurs by deputies and require them to photograph every person taken into custody and every injury sustained during an arrest.

Saying that such an order would be “most extraordinary,” Hatter said he was considering such a move but delayed his decision for at least two weeks to give county attorneys and the plaintiffs’ lawyers time to determine whether Sheriff’s Department policies specifically forbid the misconduct alleged in the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs hope that the judge will appoint a special master or receiver to oversee the Lynwood station and enforce any regulations imposed by the court.

“Our position is that the Lynwood sheriff station is well-managed and well-run,” said Patrick T. Meyers, principal deputy county counsel, after the hearing. “Our deputies serve the community well.”

Meyers also warned that any preliminary injunction would hamstring a sheriff’s station that has made 13,000 arrests and responded to 158,000 calls over the past 20 months.

Asked what he thought of Hatter’s call for an independent commission to investigate the Sheriff’s Department, Meyers said: “I have no comment. It’s Mr. Hatter’s view, and he’s entitled to it.”

Patrick Patterson, regional counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said he was buoyed by the judge’s remarks.

“It’s significant for a federal judge to ask that a message be given to the County Board of Supervisors,” Patterson said. “I think it reflects the seriousness of misconduct shown by the evidence we have provided.”

As the case was unfolding in court, KNBC-TV reported a new allegation of impropriety at the Lynwood station.

The station said sealed court documents contain the allegation that Lynwood deputies may have been involved in the drive-by shooting of plaintiff Lloyd Polk, who died in December--10 months after he claimed he was beaten by deputies.

The FBI confirmed Monday that it was investigating the circumstances surrounding Polk’s slaying, but declined further comment.

Sheriff’s officials, strongly denying that deputies were responsible for his death, produced videotaped interviews in which a former sheriff’s Explorer cadet recanted allegations she made to the FBI.

The tape shows the young woman telling investigators that she concocted the story at the urging of a private investigator who allegedly told her he was working for the FBI and assured her that her statements were only a small part of an already-damning case against the deputies. He also said her assistance could help her land a job with the department, she said.

Neither the former cadet nor the private investigator could be reached for comment. Sheriff’s Capt. Douglas McClure refused to say whether either may be subject to criminal charges.

“The FBI is also conducting an investigation in this matter and is aware of her recanting her testimony, and we are working on that case together,” he said, declining further comment.

Another department source said sheriff’s officials moved quickly to refute the assassination story, in part because of the already-charged atmosphere expected in today’s hearing.

Supervisor Gloria Molina had called for the public hearing into the Sheriff’s Department after the Aug. 3 fatal shooting of Arturo Jimenez by a deputy at the Ramona Gardens housing project in Lincoln Heights. Since then, three more people have been shot to death by deputies in circumstances disputed by witnesses.

Both critics and supporters of the Sheriff’s Department are expected to pack the board chambers when the hearing begins at 1 p.m. at the County Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St. in downtown Los Angeles.

By Monday afternoon, 103 people had signed up to address the board, from representatives of civil rights groups such as the Compton NAACP and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund to the president of the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs.

Sheriff Sherman Block will sit alongside the county supervisors, the majority of whom appear to be solidly in support of the sheriff and have made no push for an independent commission to probe his department.