Judge Denies Mistrial in Suit Over Fatal Shooting by Sheriff’s Deputies

A federal judge refused to declare a second mistrial Thursday in a $20-million civil lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over the death of an Agoura man shot by sheriff’s deputies in 1984.

Stephen Yagman, attorney for the parents of the slain man, asked U. S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts four times to declare a mistrial based on opening statements by attorney Anthony J. Serritella, who is defending the Sheriff’s Department.

Serritella told the jury that the family of the slain man, Glenn Gorio, 26, had a history of criminal activity. Yagman argued that the family did not have a criminal history and that Serritella should have mentioned only that a search warrant for Gorio’s home was justified.

Letts ruled on all four motions that there was no basis for a mistrial, but said he would caution the jury not to consider Serritella’s accusation as evidence.

Gorio was shot to death by members of the Sheriff’s Special Weapons Team during a narcotics raid at his home on Oct. 26, 1984. The team was called to the home because authorities believed that Gorio was heavily armed and was a major drug trafficker, Serritella said.

In an opening statement, attorney Marion R. Yagman said Gorio died “contorted on the floor of his bedroom” after deputies stormed his ranch-style home. Marion and Stephen Yagman are co-attorneys for Gorio’s parents, Julio Gorio, 64, of Reseda and Nina Gorio, 49, of Agoura.

The parents allege that their son was deprived of his right to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.

Marion Yagman said deputies threw a noise-making grenade into the living room as they burst into the home, awakening Gorio and his girlfriend. She said Gorio leaped out of bed, grabbed his gun and pointed it into the hallway. A deputy then killed Gorio with a spray of bullets from a submachine gun as the girlfriend watched, the attorney said.

Serritella told the jury that the officers shot at Gorio only after he fired at them. He said officers recovered 38 weapons and a small amount of drugs at the Gorio home.

Earlier Thursday, Letts granted a request by Serritella to dismiss charges against four narcotics detectives who investigated Gorio before the night he was killed. Letts ruled that the officers had sufficient probable cause to seek a search warrant for Gorio’s house.

In December, Letts declared a mistrial in the case during testimony by the first witness. The issue disputed at that time was whether members of the Special Weapons Team acted under an arrest warrant or a search warrant when they went to Gorio’s home the night of the shooting.

The judge agreed to halt the earlier trial because, he said, jurors had been misled by the reading of a section of state law governing search warrants.