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October 22, 2003

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Opening statements in Dr. Angelo E. Gousse's civil lawsuit against the LAPD-Rampart Division, City of Los Angeles and Budget Rent-A-Car will begin on

Thursday, October 23, 2003
in Los Angeles Superior Court,
111 North Hill Street, Department 30,
Los Angeles, CA.
before the Hon. Elizabeth A. Grimes.

Plaintiff's attorney, Browne Greene, will outline the merits of the case, including racial profiling and police misconduct. The trial began October 20, 2003 and is expected to last 2-3 weeks.

The trial schedule is
Monday-Friday 9:30 AM-Noon and 1:30 PM-4:00 PM.
Gousse v. City of Los Angeles,
Case No. BC 252804.

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Paul Santos, a Budget Rent-A-Car general manager, will be called as the first witness, and will testify that the car rented to Dr. Gousse had been rented out 43 times bearing the license plate of another of its rental cars that had been reported stolen.

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WHO:
Dr. Gousse filed suit June 21, 2001 against the Defendants for civil rights violations, civil battery, false arrest and negligence. He alleges that Budget Rent-A-Car's negligence set the stage for the LAPD's misconduct, and which has caused permanent injuries to his left arm.

A Miami, FL. urological reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Gousse, a 40 year-old black man of Haitian descent, was in Los Angeles in February 2001 to attend a UCLA medical conference at the invitation of his mentor Dr. Shlomo Raz, a pioneer in the field in which Dr. Gousse was considered a rising star.

Dr. Gousse rented a car from Budget's LAX location that bore the switched plates of another of its cars that had been reported stolen. Violating its own policy, Budget allowed Dr. Gousse to exit the lot even though the license plate on his rental car did not match the license plate in its computer. Budget had rented this car 43 other times to customers.

On February 11, 2001, Dr. Gousse was driving westbound on the Santa Monica Freeway near Arlington Street when he was stopped by LAPD-Rampart Division officers.

Back-up units and a police helicopter were called to the scene. With the guns of at least six police officers pointed at him, Dr. Gousse was ordered to the ground and handcuffed. He was pulled up from a prone position, put into a squad car and taken to Rampart Division. Arrested, he was never read his Miranda rights. At the scene, Dr. Gousse alleges that the police made no effort to look at his identification or to retrieve the exculpatory rental documents that were in the glove compartment.

He kept complaining that the handcuffs were too tight, but they weren't removed until his hands had gone numb and he was placed in a jail cell. Throughout his almost 2-hour ordeal, Dr. Gousse was subjected to a barrage of racial epithets and verbal abuse. At Rampart, the officers learned that the arrest was improper. Instead of letting him go, they began running a tape recorder and tried to ask Dr. Gousse leading questions in an attempt to "cover-up" the police officers' misconduct, but he did not succumb to this ruse. 

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TIME:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2003 AT 9:30 AM. 

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WHERE:
The Hon. Elizabeth A. Grimes, Department 30 Los Angeles Superior Court 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA. 90012 

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NOTE:
Dr. Gousse and his wife, Marie Gousse,
are represented by Browne Greene with Greene, Broillet, Panish & Wheeler, LLP (www.gbpwlaw.com);

Tel: 310-576-1200; and
Robert W. Kelley with Sheldon J. Schlesinger,
PA of Fort Lauderdale,
FL. Defendant City of Los Angeles

is represented by
Cory Brente and Christian Bojorquez
with the City Attorney's Office;
Tel. 213-978-7027.

Defendant Budget Rent-A-Car is represented
by Scott J. Ferrell with Call, Jensen & Ferrell; Tel: 949-717-3000.