A federal judge has found that LA city officials doctored records in a case over homeless camp cleanups

The five-year-old lawsuit alleges that the city's practice of seizing and disposing of property violates the 4th Amendment's protection against illegal search and seizure and the 14th Amendment's guarantee of due process.

It describes property used by lead plaintiff Janet Garcia for her work as a domestic cleaner being seized and destroyed when she was not present. Other plaintiffs weren't given time to collect personal items before they were seized, it alleges.

Ktown for All, a group that advocates for and assists homeless people, was harmed by having to expend resources replenishing the seized items, it alleges.

The plaintiffs seek compensation for the destroyed property and pain and suffering as well as a declaration that the city's policies and practices violate the California and U.S. constitutions.

Early in the case, Fischer issued a preliminary injunction barring the city from enforcing the municipal code that prohibits bulky items. Because of that ruling, the plaintiffs would have essentially already won their case involving any property taken under the bulky item law, but would have retained a defense for items taken under a health standard, Myers said.

Fischer subsequently held the city in contempt after the plaintiff's attorney introduced evidence that city workers continued to post signs in some locations prohibiting bulky items.

Since then the case has dragged on over disputes about the accuracy of the city's records.

According to court filings, the city responded to the discovery request for the documents by converting printouts of the original Microsoft Word documents into PDFs. The process eliminated the date stamps that recorded when the originals were created and last modified.

When the original of one of those records was attached to an email the plaintiffs obtained in discovery, Myers found that it had been extensively revised before the conversion to PDF.

After Myers presented evidence of the altered documents in a 2022 hearing, Fisher took the unusual step of appointing a neutral third-party forensic examiner to determine if the city had "spoliated" records, a legal term meaning intentionally or negligently altering or destroying.

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