$2.9 Million in Damages Asked in Police Files Suit

A lawyer for a former Pasadena political candidate who contends an assistant police chief leaked information that caused him to lose the election asked a jury Tuesday for up to $2.9 million in damages.

Lawyer Dan Stormer presented graphs to a Superior Court jury suggesting they award damages in a range of $730,000 to $2.9 million against the city and Assistant Police Chief Robert Vernon for his client, Michael Zinzun.

Zinzun sued Vernon, the city and Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, who was dismissed from the suit last week, contending Vernon improperly and maliciously leaked information from police files about him in such a way it appeared he was under investigation as a terrorist.