Bias Complaint Rocks L.A. Deputy’s Career
By Jason Ma

Life changed forever for Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Brian Moriguchi on Feb. 28, 1996.

That was the day that he openly objected to a caricature of an Asian man posted prominently in the roll call room. He said he believes that the drawing, which depicted a face with slanted eyes, glasses and exaggerated buck teeth, was targeted directly at himself, a Japanese American. It had been placed beneath a message he had written reminding deputies to send reports downtown.

By that summer, bad things had begun to happen, and not by coincidence, Moriguchi said. A year later, a jury unanimously sided with him in his suit, ordering Lt. Anthony Torres to pay $58,400 and Sgt. James Maurer $5,000 beyond that for “malicious and oppressive” behavior. In addition, the court ordered expunged from Moriguchi’s record allegations that the deputy had engaged in overtime fraud, saying Maurer -- one of Moriguchi’s supervisors at the time -- had falsified the information. In fact, according to Superior Court Judge Charles McCoy Jr.’s opinion, “Maurer thereafter fabricated wholly false and sham allegations of wrongdoing against Moriguchi in retaliation for his complaints.”

The saga didn’t end there. Last month, Moriguchi discovered that the county planned an appeal.

Moriguchi appeared Dec. 7 before the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors to ask it to withdraw the appeal, reform the complaint process within the department and to finally investigate the offensive drawing.

The board decided unanimously to discuss the case in a closed-door session this week. As of Monday, things were “still pretty positive," said Thomas Ono, Moriguchi's lawyer.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department declined to comment, citing the pending appeal. Maurer and Torres could not be reached.

At the time of the alleged incident, Moriguchi, now 35, was one of two Asian American deputies at the Santa Clarita Metrolink station, which had about 40 deputies. Between June and July of 1996, Moriguchi said, he discovered that someone had rummaged through his locker at the Santa Clarita Metrolink Sheriff’s Station, an hour north of downtown. Three times, he found that someone had slashed his tires at the station.

Shortly after, Moriguchi said, he saw Maurer, his commanding officer, following him in a squad car as he was leaving the station. After Moriguchi’s girlfriend said Maurer had been tailing her, Moriguchi said he checked station records and discovered that Maurer had done a DMV computer check on her plate, according to the deputy.

All this, Moriguchi said, was meant to enforce the so-called code of silence that colleagues felt he had violated when he finally spoke up about the poster. It had been up for four days.

In line with department policy regarding racial incidents, Moriguchi said he initially had complained about the drawing to Maurer, his superior. According to Moriguchi, Maurer brushed off his complaints by saying, “Come on, you know you don't count. You're not black or Hispanic.”

When Moriguchi didn’t get the action he wanted, he said he approached Torres about Maurer's individual investigation and asked that the Internal Affairs Bureau investigate Maurer for misconduct. Instead, Ono said, Torres threatened Moriguchi with an IAB investigation targeting the deputy.

“He was basically saying he was going to stop my career for a couple of years,” Moriguchi said, noting that IAB investigations take years to complete and preclude transfers or promotions for the duration. At the time he was on a short list for promotions to sergeant. “Nobody wants someone who is a problem child. It freezes your career.”

The investigation went ahead anyway in January 1997 but concluded that the accusations were “unfounded.” By then, Moriguchi had already sued Los Angeles County and had been transferred to another station in Lancaster, where he was promoted to sergeant. Ironically, he worked on hate crimes.

“They felt if they withheld promotion, they would face an even bigger lawsuit,” said the 14-year veteran.

On Nov. 15, the county filed a notice of appeal, contesting the monetary damages and the removal of the investigation from Moriguchi's record, said Senior Deputy County Counsel Johanna Fontenot. She would not comment about the case further.

If the Board of Supervisors decides to withdraw the appeal, it would first have to consult with attorneys from both sides, Fontenot said. Although it would only take a majority of the five-member board to reach a decision, she said, “they would listen to our recommendation.”

Even if he were to prevail on the issue of an appeal and keep the IAB investigation off his record for good, Moriguchi said he thought that he would still have some trouble finding another job.

“If you have an Internal Affairs investigation on your record, that's like the kiss of death,” said Ono, adding that the threat of an investigation deters others from speaking up. “It ensures the good old boy’s network.”

Despite the obstacles to the advancement of his career that he now faces, Moriguchi said he would do it all over again if the same situation presented itself. “It's an important enough issue to address.”

But in the meantime, he said he plans to stay in the L.A. department, where he now works out of the Castaic station. “I'm hoping things will change.”