On a Road Trip last week, looked up the following court case, which has been referred to but details never posted (until now):

Plaintiffs Darryl Evan Mounger & Eugene Martin Ingram vs.

Defendant LAPD Chief Darryl Gates

Civil Case #C326726 (1980) in Los Angeles County Superior Court Source: Los Angeles County Archives

Eugene Martin Ingram's cause of action in this suit, is to challenge a June 1980 change of LAPD Internal Policy, which prevented him from defending Darryl Mounger in an internal LAPD Police Board hearing.

Facts related to the case: Mounger, along with Ingram, served as a LAPD officer in the Hollywood Division in the late 1970's.

His former occupation was as a used car salesman in the 1960's.

As a Sergeant, Ingram was the Supervising Officer to Mounger.

In late 1978 Mounger met 14-year-old crime victim Shari Molina, then a runaway, at the Hollywood station house. Mounger followed up the meeting with a social pursuit of Shari, including breaking into the apartment of her then-boyfriend Ricky Masting and confronting her (in Masting's bed) with how she was "treating"

him in November 1979. (He later arrested Masting on what was claimed to be a "set up" charge).

In January 1980, 15 year-old Shari went on a weekend trip to Palm Springs with both the 34 year-old Mounger and 33 year-old Ingram, according to LAPD Officer Alan B. Deal. (For additional perspective, consider that at the time Mounger's own daughter Shawn Andra Mounger, was then 13 years old). This trip, including accusations of Mounger's "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" by means of a sexual relationship, which later became the focus of the LAPD inquiry. Mounger later "married" Shari in a ceremony in Mexico, at a time when he was stil married to his first wife Madlyn Francene Mounger, which infuriated Shari's mother Cilla Molina. Cilla made a tearful call on February 27, 1980 to LAPD Hollywood Officer Al Bei with these accusations, which progressed into a formal inquiry by LAPD Internal Affairs' Officer Captain Don W. Vincent.

In response, a Private Investigator went to Cilla's home and tried to persuade her to sign papers declaring Shari to be an "emancipated minor" no longer subject to her oversight. Then on March 6, 1980, the day before the LAPD investigation started, Shari married Darryl in Utah at a ceremony also attended by her father. As a result, Darryl Mounger cited a privacy "privilege"

based on their relationship as a married couple, when questions were asked about his sexual activities with the underage Shari.

The LAPD didn't want Eugene Ingram to represent Mounger in a scheduled June 1980 Police Board hearing, so they informed him of a new LAPD Policy that Supervising Officers could not act as Counsel to an accused Police Officer. Ingram reportedly was threatened with "insubordination" if he did not answer questions related to what he knew of the Mounger's relationship prior to their marriage. Eugene and Darryl instead sued the Chief of the LAPD Darryl Gates, asking that the new policy be voided and that he not be compelled to answer questions of that nature. Ingram stated in the suit that the Defendant Gates was "falsely accusing me of misconduct," with regards to a chagre of "dereliction of duties" for not reporting Mounger's actions to the department prior to the investigation.

One witness in the case, a teenage female friend of Shari Moungers, made a statement regarding Eugene Ingram's actions in November 1979, which was related in the case file as follows:

"Sargent Ingram approached the witness while on duty, and invited her out with him. The witness refused. Approximately 10 minutes later, Sgt. Ingram approached the witness, put his arm around her, touched and began to fondle her breast. The witness backed away from him."

The attorney in this case, for both Mounger and Ingram, was Steven Lincoln Paine, then of Cotkin, Collins, Kolts &

Franscell of Los Angeles.

Mounger eventually retired from the force with a disability pension in 1985, claiming he was "set up" by the LAPD on a phony charge (Los Angeles Times 9/18/1990 pg. B1). Mounger then attended Southwestern College and became an attorney in the late 1980's, and represented LA Police Officers accused of misconduct in several high-profile cases; including Stacey Koon of the "Rodney King" beating, Mark Fuhrman of the O.J. Simpson trial, and defendants charged in the late 1990's "Rampart Division" trials.

He is still currently married to Madlyn Francene Mounger, and his law practice is based at 4455 Van Nuys Blvd, Sherman Oaks, California.

Al Bie of the LAPD went on to work for Eugene Ingram in the 1980's, reportedly harassing "squirrel" David Mayo in Santa Barbara in 1984 by photographing visitors to his alternative church and implying to neighboring businesses that Mayo was under investigation for white- collar crimes.

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