Civil Rights
Jun. 19, 2002
Domestic Abuse Case May Settle
SAN FRANCISCO - A last-minute settlement could derail the high-profile Maria Teresa Macias federal civil rights trial testing the 14th Amendment's equal protection guarantees in domestic violence cases.
Opening arguments took place Monday before jurors and U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco.
Testimony was set to run for a month over plaintiffs' claims that Macias, gunned down by her estranged husband, had received substandard protection from sheriffs' deputies because she was a woman and a domestic violence victim.
But Sonoma County's apparent effort at a courthouse-steps settlement could mean the case won't get beyond the first few witnesses. The named defendant, Mark Ihde, is the former Sonoma County sheriff. Macias v. Ihde, C96-3658SI.
Defense lawyer Michael D. Senneff, of Santa Rosa's Senneff Freeman & Bluestone, delayed opening statements and summoned plaintiffs attorney Richard A. Seltzer for a 30-minute chambers conference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman.
Settlement was clearly on the table, though lawyers for both sides declined comment.
The plaintiffs have demanded $15 million and hope for a jury's endorsement of an equal-protection cause of action against police agencies in domestic violence cases.
Courthouse speculation was that Senneff moved to settle after a six-woman, three-man panel was chosen Thursday. Friday, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors abruptly scheduled a closed session to consider the litigation today.
A board decision to approve a payout could tempt the plaintiffs to end the case.
Courtroom defense of the deputies' conduct looks like an uphill battle.
Macias' mother and her 18-year-old daughter, Claudia, sit at the plaintiffs table, representing her estate - and plainly hoping to arouse jurors' sympathies. Avelino Macias shot the mother, Sara Hernandez, in the legs after he murdered his wife and before he killed himself.
Hernandez will testify her daughter was frustrated by deputies' indifference and believed she would be killed, Seltzer said. Macias reportedly told Hernandez, "If I die I want you to tell other people what happened to me."
In considering settlement, the plaintiffs appear torn between the chance to air their case and the need to secure funds for the three Macias children, who range in age from 12 to 19.
"I'm not allowed to talk about settlement," Seltzer, of Oakland's Seltzer & Cody, said Monday. "I have a lot of passion for this case. I'm ready to roll."
Seltzer told jurors that Sonoma County deputies had numerous calls from Maria Teresa Macias to put them on notice that her husband was a dangerous stalker who frequently violated restraining orders.
"They treated those as second-class crimes," he said. "Women have fought hard for their rights, and domestic violence has been at the forefront of that struggle."
Sonoma deputies had an unwritten policy that limited their intervention to cases where the domestic abuser was physically attacking a victim, Seltzer said. Stalking went unpunished, he said, even though it has long been known as a red flag foretelling increasingly brutal behavior.
In contrast, defense lawyer Senneff said the sheriff's department gave its deputies specialized domestic violence training. The plaintiffs' case, he said, is built on "hindsight perspective" that disregards Avelino's unreported rage at his wife's love for another man.
Senneff also sought to question the victim's credibility in her frequent calls seeking help from deputies.
"It's sensitive, but it's a fact," Senneff said. At a psychological evaluation the year before her death Maria Teresa Macias "was found suffering a mental disorder with paranoid features."
The defense job got tougher for Senneff in March when Illston ruled that three expert witnesses would be allowed to offer potentially devastating testimony for the plaintiffs.
They include Nancy K.D. Lemon, a Boalt Hall professor who is an expert in domestic violence, and Ann O'Dell, a retired San Diego police detective sergeant who lectures law enforcement agencies on the proper handling of domestic violence calls.
In addition, Sonoma County psychologist Daniel J. Sonkin is set to testify. Sonkin, the author of handbooks on domestic violence treatment, examined deputies' responses in the case and concluded in a declaration:
"The repeated failure of the sheriff's department to arrest or charge Avelino Macias with any crime when more than two dozen reports were made to them of stalking, threats to kill, restraining order violations and other criminal conduct ... fed his feelings of omnipotence ... placing Maria Teresa in ever increasing danger."
John Roemer
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