SLO couple’s attorney offered to settle complaint over gun search. Here’s why city said no
A lawyer representing the couple targeted in an alleged “bad faith” home search — after San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deanna Cantrell lost her gun at El Pollo Loco last year — offered to settle a civil case with the city in August for nearly $40,000, saying it would protect the privacy of the parties involved.
But the City Council rejected the lawyer’s proposal, contending the city has done nothing wrong and that “complete facts of this case” need to be disclosed before any city liability claims are addressed.
Attorney Pete Depew wrote a settlement offer letter to SLO officials dated Aug. 21 on behalf of Vanessa Bedroni and Cheyne Orndoff and their two young children, according to public records released by SLO city officials to The Tribune.
Depew contended the family’s rights were violated when SLO police searched their O’Connor Way home on July 10, 2019.
After a warrantless search, the couple was arrested and charged on suspicion of felony child endangerment due to the allegedly dangerous conditions of their home, which prosecutors say had drugs and needles left in plain view and was in filthy condition.
“These individuals continue to suffer from the consequences of these violations to this day,” Depew wrote to the city on Aug. 21. “Accordingly, we are prepared to settle today in the fair and reasonable amount of $9,900 for each affected party (accounting for the four members of the family whose home was searched), totaling $39,600. We would not be opposed to placing this money in a trust that exists to make disbursements for rent and improvements to the (family’s) O’Connor Way home.”
In a written response on Sept. 4, SLO City Attorney Christine Dietrick said she met in closed session with the City Council, which directed her to reject the offer, saying “after discussion, the city remains confident that its officers acted properly and in good-faith reliance on (court database) information available to them at the time.”
Why home was searched
SLO police arrived at Orndoff and Bedroni’s home after receiving a tip from a Morro Bay police official that the man suspected of taking the gun captured in El Pollo Loco surveillance images looked like Orndoff.
However, the tip turned out to be misguided. The suspect was later properly identified as Los Osos resident Skeeter “Carlos” Mangan, who turned the gun in.
SLO police believed Orndoff was on probation because of a criminal database error that confused Cheyne Ordnoff and his brother Cole Orndoff. That led them to believe they could search the home without a warrant, and after assessing the almost uninhabitable living conditions, officers arrested Orndoff and Bedroni on suspicion of felony child endangerment.
A video of the family’s home shown by the prosecution in court backs up the description of the home’s condition, showing trash, mold, a clogged toilet and sink, and used needles strewn about.
Following the arrests, Depew, who represents Bedroni, filed a citizen complaint with the Police Department for investigation of alleged police misconduct and has cited a “bad faith” search in his motion to block evidence from trial.
Attorney’s offer and city’s response
In the court system, the criminal child endangerment case and the couple’s civil case against the city are unrelated, with the city and district attorney operating independently of each other.
Nevertheless, Depew’s August settlement offer, which was made on the family’s behalf, seemed to connect the two.
Depew said he believed it was in the best interest of all parties involved to have an “expedient and discrete (sic) resolution.”
He wrote: “So I think there is a contingency where I do not file additional (criminal) briefs in the criminal case, no live hearings are held, and a very modest financial settlement is reached with the city. I see this as a win/win/win. The taxpayers save money because there is no multi-day hearing and multi-day trial and our respective clients have their privacy prioritized.”
Depew also wrote that he was “cautiously optimistic” that the criminal case against the couple also would be settled with a negotiated plea on different charges than those alleged by the district attorney.
He didn’t clarify the specific charges to which his clients would be open to accepting through a plea agreement in the criminal case.
Depew didn’t respond to the Tribune’s requests for comment about his correspondence with the city.
The city did not agree with Depew’s reasoning, and in response, Dietrick wrote that “there is not such thing as a ‘discrete’ settlement with a public agency; all settlement agreements with public agencies are public records.
“The city supports its officers’ lawful actions to protect and assist in the removal of your clients’ minor children from the drug-exposed, dangerous, and squalid conditions in which they were living. ... Moreover, the settlement you propose on behalf of your clients’ children would be subject to the approval of a minor’s compromise by the court.
“Finally, the city is not interested in entering into an agreement that would preclude it from disclosing the complete facts of this case in response to any liability claims or past or future public misrepresentations that may be made against the city of its employees.”
Case continues to be in dispute
Before making the settlement offer, on Aug. 7, Depew also shared an advance draft with SLO officials of a 100-page motion in Superior Court to suppress evidence related to the search.
In the motion, ultimately filed in court on Sept. 8, Depew laid out allegations that Cantrell and other police officials improperly concealed communications in unrecorded calls using private cell phones and violated city procedures on the day of the O’Connor Way search.
“Here is a brief we have not yet filed in Superior Court that might better illuminate our position with respect to the complaint and a potential settlement,” Depew said.
Deputy District Attorney Ben Blumenthal has argued in court documents that police were not responsible for a criminal justice system database error that showed Orndoff was on probation, and they acted appropriately under the law. The city has echoed that argument in public comments about the case.
Last month, Cantrell testified in court that she was technically a victim in the case because her lost gun was taken from El Pollo and she was not involved in the search at the O’Connor Way home.
Cantrell also testified that she reviewed surveillance images of the suspect in the search for her lost gun, which made it appear Mangan had a beard when actually he did not.
Orndoff had a full beard at the time, a fact defense attorneys in the case point to in arguing the search was wrongful.
Other than informing another SLO police official of the surveillance photo and handing off the oversight of the investigation, Cantrell said she had no further involvement in the investigation once the tip on Orndoff came in.
But Cantrell also admitted under questioning that she was involved in several unrecorded cell phone calls with other officers before and after they closed in on the couple’s home on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo.
The next preliminary hearing in the criminal case is scheduled for Oct. 15 at 8:30 a.m. in Judge Tim Covello’s court, when Covello could decide whether enough evidence exists to advance the case to trial.
This story was originally published October 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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