The relations of a lady whose useless physique was allegedly molested by a police officer will obtain $250,000 to finish their lawsuit in opposition to town, the Los Angeles Metropolis Council determined Wednesday.
The settlement, permitted on a 14-0 vote, comes 5 years after the Los Angeles Police Division accused Officer David Rojas of fondling the physique of 34-year-old Elizabeth Baggett after she was discovered useless at her residence.
After Rojas was arrested, Baggett’s relations sued town, saying they skilled “extreme emotional misery” upon studying what occurred. They accused town of negligence, invasion of privateness and mishandling of human stays.
The incident came about in 2019, when Rojas and one other officer responded to Baggett’s residence. Paramedics had lined her physique with a sheet. Whereas his associate was out of the room, Rojas lifted the sheet, exposing the useless girl’s higher torso, then squeezed her proper breast twice, in keeping with the LAPD.
Rojas, whose actions had been recorded by his personal physique digicam, was later charged with felony sexual contact with human stays. He pleaded not responsible. Showing at his preliminary listening to in 2021, he mentioned he knew he was being recorded by the physique digicam and touched the girl just for investigative functions, not sexual arousal.
Rojas, throughout his testimony, mentioned he touched her breast twice after noticing a mark he couldn’t establish. He mentioned he squeezed the world to find out whether or not the mark was a wound — an account {that a} choose within the case referred to as “extraordinarily unpersuasive.”
Final yr, one other choose positioned Rojas in an 18-month psychological well being diversion program, in keeping with court docket data. Rojas has been relieved of obligation however stays on the drive in an unpaid capability whereas he awaits a disciplinary listening to, mentioned LAPD spokesperson Kelly Muniz.
Gloria Allred, a lawyer for the Baggett household, mentioned her shoppers had no remark. In 2020, Janet Baggett, Elizabeth’s mom, mentioned she was “infuriated that this man had so little respect for an additional human being.”
The Los Angeles Police Protecting League, which represents rank-and-file officers, didn’t defend Rojas in his prison case, calling his actions “vile.” In 2021, the union mentioned it hoped the prison expenses would “deliver some solace to the deceased girl’s household throughout their time of grieving.”
