Appeals Court Puts Police Suit on Hold

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday postponed a trial over the conduct of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Investigations Section, whose officers have been involved in a number of controversial shootings.

The court directed U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts to delay the trial until a number of constitutional issues can be resolved on appeal. Among those is the question of whether Los Angeles City Council members, police commissioners and others can be held liable for the actions of the SIS officers.

Skip Miller, who represents the city in the case, said he welcomed the court’s ruling and said it would streamline the issues in the case.

According to Miller, it will be months before the various legal issues are resolved and the question of the trial’s scope decided.

Stephen Yagman, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said he had not seen the order but predicted that it would not affect next week’s trial date. “I have a feeling that the trial will proceed as scheduled,” he said, declining to elaborate.