Police Shooting of Tujunga Man Ruled Justified

Rejecting claims of police brutality and cover-up in the Los Angeles Police Department, a federal court jury ruled Tuesday that officers were justified in shooting Tujunga gunsmith John Gersboll at least seven times in a 1990 raid.

The Los Angeles federal court jury delivered the Police Department a clean sweep in the highly publicized case, ruling that officers did not unlawfully assault Gersboll or his wife, did not inflict emotional distress and did not violate the couple’s civil rights.

The case stemmed from a 1990 raid at the Gersboll home. Filed against the city, the Police Department and a dozen officers, including former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, the suit alleged that police used excessive force in the shooting and then covered up details to protect officers.

“It’s like the first verdict in the King case,” the Gersbolls’ attorney, Riverside lawyer Fred J. Knez, said Tuesday, referring to the Simi Valley jury that last year acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of nearly all criminal charges in the beating of motorist Rodney G. King.

“You shake your head,” Knez said. “You hear the evidence and yet this is the result you come back with?” He said he would ask U.S. District Judge William J. Rea, who presided over the case, for a new trial.

Tayo A. Popoola, the deputy city attorney who defended the officers and the department in the Gersboll case, said the jury’s Tuesday verdict should serve as a reminder that “there are two sides to all these police cases.”

“More often than not,” Popoola said, “the press would like to present the negative side, the sensational side--the government cover-up, the police brutality. Those things are deeply ingrained into the mind of the public due to the movies and the current political and social climate--for example, the Rodney King case.

“We need active law enforcement,” Popoola said. “But it has to be fair. And I think the public should continue to scrutinize police. But that should be fair--and we should not go so far as to tie the hands of our police officers.”

Carrying a warrant and searching for drugs, narcotics detectives raided the Gersboll home in the 9900 block of Tujunga Canyon Boulevard on Jan. 23, 1990.

The raid was prompted by an anonymous tip of drug dealing at the house. The Gersbolls consistently have maintained they were not dealing drugs.

Shortly before 11 p.m., officers knocked on the door. Receiving no response but hearing movement inside, officers knocked in the door with a hand-held battering ram.

Officers Larry Voelker and David Nila shot John Gersboll at least seven times, alleging he pointed a gun at them and refused to stop advancing when ordered to do so.

John Gersboll had armed himself, fearing intruders, but has said he dropped the gun when he realized he was confronting police. “Mr. Gersboll was on the floor, crawling on the floor, when he got shot,” Knez said.

The shooting left John Gersboll partially paralyzed in one leg. Five bullets remain in his body.

A police investigation found the shooting was justified, and prosecutors filed criminal charges against both John and Samantha Gersboll.

In June, 1991, a San Fernando Superior Court jury acquitted him of assault and her of possessing an illegal weapon. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the same weapons charge against John Gersboll, and a judge later threw out the charge.

The two were never charged with possessing or selling drugs.

In July, 1991, the Gersbolls filed suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging officers used excessive force in the raid and then tried to cover up details of the shooting to protect those who took part in the raid.

The suit asked for $100 million. Popoola said Tuesday that the Gersbolls offered to settle the case for $4 million, then for $1.5 million midway through the trial, which began Feb. 24. “We offered $150,000,” Popoola said. “They laughed at me. They’re going to walk away with nothing.”

Knez said there was never a $4-million offer. During the trial, he said, the Gersbolls offered to settle for “an amount over $1 million.” Popoola countered with $50,000, not $150,000, and the Gersbolls turned that down, Knez said.

After a monthlong trial--which featured testimony from Gates, who said officers had followed department policy--the seven-member jury got the case Monday. It delivered its verdict Tuesday morning.

The FBI is still investigating the shooting, spokesman John Hoos said Tuesday.

That probe could lead to federal criminal charges against the officers in the case. But the verdict Tuesday could derail the investigation, since the Gersbolls were unable to convince a civil jury that the evidence showed it was more likely than not that officers violated their rights.

In a criminal case, the officers could be convicted only if it was clear beyond a reasonable doubt that officers ran afoul of the law--a far more stringent test.

Hoos said it is up to U.S. Department of Justice officials in Washington to take the next step in the case. Word of the Tuesday verdict will be sent back to those officials, he said.