Deputies’ Action Costs $15.9 Million

A civil court jury Monday ordered Los Angeles County to pay a record $15.9 million in damages to 36 people who jurors ruled were brutalized by sheriff’s deputies while storming a 1989 bridal shower at the home of a Samoan-American family.

David Dole, who suffered head injuries and a broken hand in the incident, was awarded the top individual judgment - $3.8 million. Dole’s father, Arthur, 67, who hosted the bridal shower, was awarded $1 million.

The judgment was four times bigger than the $3.9 million settlement received from the city of Los Angeles by Rodney G. King, whose 1991 beating at the hands of police sparked national controversy.

Sheriff’s deputies, saying they had received a call about party-goers fighting in the street with sticks and knives, responded in force.

Family members and friends greeted them by hurling rocks and bottles, the deputies claimed.

A jury acquitted David Dole and two other party guests of charges that they rioted and assaulted the deputies.