Trial Magazine

In 1984, Claire Hough, 14, was beaten and strangled to death. Lacking any definitive leads, the case went cold for nearly three decades. In 2012, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) asked its crime lab to conduct further testing. This revealed DNA from convicted rapist Ronald Tatro in blood samples taken from Hough’s clothing. Additionally, sperm taken from a vaginal swab revealed trace amounts of semen from Kevin Brown, a former longtime employee of the SDPD Crime Lab.

The investigation turned to Brown, and a search warrant was served on his home, which resulted in the seizure of multiple items. Brown, who suffered from anxiety and depression, later hanged himself at a state park.

Brown’s estate and wife sued Michael Lambert, the lead detective in the cold case investigation, and Maura Mekenas-Parga, who assisted with the execution of the search warrant. The plaintiffs alleged violation of Brown’s Fourth Amendment rights, claiming that Lambert had obtained the warrant through judicial deception and that the defendants had seized property beyond the warrant’s scope. Despite prominent evidence allegedly linking Tatro to the crime, the plaintiffs asserted, Lambert had used Brown’s sperm cells and statements that he had frequented strip clubs in the 1980s to imply that he had assisted Tatro with the killing.

The jury awarded $6 million in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages against Lambert and nominal damages of $2 against Mekenas-Parga. The parties settled for an undisclosed amount.

Citation: Brown v. Lambert, No. 15-cv-1583-DMS (WVG) (S.D. Cal. 2021).

Plaintiff counsel: Eugene G. Iredale, AAJ member Julia Yoo, and Grace Jun, all of San Diego.