Attorney declines to take up Conlosh case

Torus Tammer

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- Los Angeles attorney Brad Gage has decided not to

file a lawsuit on behalf of former Councilman Chuck Conlosh, who claims

he was unjustly forced to enter and remain in a psychiatric hospital

against his will.

Conlosh, 36, forfeited his seat on the Fountain Valley City Council in

February. Previous to that, he resigned in January from the Huntington

Beach Police Department, then checked himself into College Hospital in

Costa Mesa. It was from the psychiatric ward of the hospital that Conlosh

contacted Gage.

Gage said it was during that phone call that Conlosh claimed to be

targeted as part of a dual city plot between Fountain Valley and

Huntington Beach in an attempt to force him into the hospital, where he

claims he was held against his will.

After combing through hospital records and conducting his own

investigation into Conlosh’s claims, Gage said it wasn’t until last week

that he had finally decided not to represent him.

Gage said he had to take his own company into consideration when

making the decision because as a rule, he tries to choose the cases with

the largest financial potential.

“Although we do firmly believe that Chuck Conlosh was wronged in this

situation, we feel that it’s in his best interest to consider pursuing

different legal options,” Gage said. “Our firm is unique and lucky in

that sometimes we have 50 cases come in within a week so we have to

prioritize.”

Fountain Valley Mayor Larry Crandall said the facts have spoken for

themselves in that the law is very clear on issues of unsubstantiated

allegations.

Crandall, who in the past had publicly challenged Conlosh to come

forth with proof of his allegations of wrongdoing against high level city

officials, added that he is not surprised by Gage’s decision.

“The fact of the matter is that all these supposed investigations were

launched against the city and the staff and everything was unfounded,”

Crandall said. “Had there been justification to the [Conlosh]

accusations, then rest assured it would have been in the papers and

lawsuits would have been filed . . . but there have been none.”