r****a
发帖数: 3249 | 1 从各种官司和解中赚取百万美元的情况下，还假装低收入，免掉法庭费用.
此人难缠，成为local business的nightmare.
http://abc7.com/news/serial-plaintiff-deported-to-mexico/198487
Investigation: Serial plaintiff Alfredo Garcia deported to Mexico
LOS ANGELES (KABC) --
Alfredo Garcia, a notorious serial plaintiff, convicted felon and
undocumented immigrant, has been deported to Mexico. Garcia made it his
business to sue small businesses, filing more than 800 lawsuits against
businesses in the Los Angeles area for alleged violations of the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
Garcia hasn't held a job since he fell out of an avocado tree while he was
drinking and high on cocaine about 18 years ago. Garcia's back was broken,
his spinal cord severed. Since then, he's made a living off these lawsuits.
It's incredibly profitable, for Garcia and his longtime attorney Morse
Mehrban.
Based on previously disclosed settlements, Eyewitness News can estimate that
Garcia has collected approximately $1.2 million from business owners since
he began filing lawsuits in 2007.
At the same time, Garcia applies for and receives fee waivers from the
courts by claiming he is too poor to pay the court fees associated with the
lawsuits. That means taxpayers pick up the tab.
Garcia typically sues small mom-and-pop type businesses, but among his 811
lawsuits, big names like Wal-Mart, Bank of America and Jamba Juice are also
included. He's also sued dozens of restaurants, auto-repair shops, a medical
clinic where he received rehab, a lawyer who deposed him, the city of
Cudahy and dozens of Laundromats.
Garcia and other serial plaintiffs look for A.D.A. violations like a
bathroom mirror that's mounted too high on a wall or a disabled parking
space that doesn't have the required access aisle. His lawsuits rarely go to
trial, and Garcia has testified that he typically collects about $2,000 in
settlement money per lawsuit.
"These cases amount to legalized extortion," says attorney Jim Link who has
defended dozens of local businesses against Garcia lawsuits.
Link is particularly incensed by the court's failure to force Garcia and
other serial plaintiffs to pay their own court fees, which run in the
hundreds of dollars per case. Eyewitness News added up all of Garcia's court
fees that have been waived over the years. The grand total? $213,502.
"So, there's a huge fraud on the system when it comes to these serial
litigants who are making tremendous amounts of money, but not paying the
court system that they're using to collect this money."
Eyewitness News has been investigating Alfredo Garcia since 2010. At that
point, he'd sued more than 500 businesses, including La Casita Mexicana in
Bell. The restaurant owners were able to prove that Garcia had not been at
their restaurant on the dates he claimed to have been there. They sued
Garcia for abuse of process and eventually collected $5,000 in damages.
That was a rare loss for Garcia, who usually collects hefty settlements
without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom. For business owners, it's
easier and less expensive to settle the case than to hire an attorney to
fight it.
Our earlier stories pointed out that Garcia was receiving fee waivers from
the courts, despite his substantial income from these lawsuits. The fee
waivers were being rubber-stamped by clerks until the L.A. Superior Court
began to hold hearings in late 2011 on Garcia's ability to pay his court
fees. In 2012, Garcia was ordered to begin paying half of his court fees.
That's when he stopped filing lawsuits for about a year.
But in 2013, Garcia started filing lawsuits again, this time in "limited
jurisdiction" where a different group of court personnel would be evaluating
his fee waiver applications. In each of the new cases reviewed by
Eyewitness News, the fee waiver was granted by a clerk. No more fee waiver
hearings have been held in his 190 new lawsuits; Garcia's fees have again
been waived 100 percent.
"I think he deceived the court because he certainly didn't tell them he was
ordered to pay 50 percent fees when he filed the fee waiver applications,"
says attorney Jim Link.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Superior Court would not answer our
questions about why Garcia's court fees were being fully waived once again,
saying it would be "inappropriate to respond" because it involves active
litigation.
Garcia has a lengthy criminal history. He's been convicted of three felonies
, involving drug, weapons and burglary charges. In a 2009 sworn deposition,
he admitted to violating his probation by snorting cocaine and smoking pot.
He also admitted to being in the U.S. illegally and buying two social
security cards off the street. Since then, Garcia has had at least two of
those felonies expunged from his criminal record.
In February 2011, Garcia was arrested for immigration violations by officers
with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Fugitive Operations
Team. Due to his disability, Garcia was released while his case made its way
through the immigration courts, including an appeal. He was placed "under
intensive supervision" by ICE, but that did not stop him from filing more
lawsuits. Since that 2011 arrest, he's filed an additional 300 lawsuits.
Garcia's appeal was dismissed in February and he was deported to Mexico on
June 11th.
"In light of his medical condition, ICE spent months working with Mexican
consular representatives in advance of Mr. Garcia's removal to ensure he
would receive continuing healthcare following his repatriation," said ICE
spokesperson Virginia Kice in a statement to Eyewitness News.
So, what happens now to Garcia's 80 ongoing lawsuits against business owners
? We wanted to ask Garcia's attorney Morse Mehrban, but he did not return
our multiple phone calls and emails.
Business owners who don't know about Garcia's deportation may still settle
their cases with Garcia and Mehrban. Business owners who do know, can ask
for Garcia to deposed or go to trial.
"What it means for the cases is I think they'll all have to be ultimately
dismissed," says attorney Jim Link.
"I don't think he's going to be allowed to come back into the country to
testify in those cases and I don't think they'll want to get his testimony
on video in each and every case. The cost of that would be outrageous to Mr.
Mehrban, and I don't know how he proves his case otherwise."
Eyewitness News reached out to many of the business owners who are still
facing pending lawsuits with Alfredo Garcia. In one case, the restaurant
owner's attorney immediately noticed Garcia for a deposition. Mehrban
quickly dismissed the case.
An Eyewitness News producer called Garcia in Mexico to ask him whether he
plans to pursue the pending cases. He cursed at our producer, telling her to
"mind your own (expletive) business" and hung up the phone. |
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