Bank Exec's Lawyer Disputes LAPD Story

It will be at least another 30 days before Los Angeles Police Department officers will be required to tell their side of the increasingly bizarre story of the arrest and beating of Deutsche Banks senior executive Brian Mulligan on May 15, 2012 in Highland Park. 

Mulligan's legal team filed an official abuse claim against both the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD on August 18, alleging that officers arrested the 52-year-old La Cañada man without cause, held him at a Highland Park hotel for several hours, and then mercilessly beat him when he attempted to escape.

The filing of the claim triggered a 45-day waiting period before Mulligan's legal team can file an official suit, which will allow them to subpoena LAPD officers and learn more what happened on that night.

In the meantime, J. Michael Flanagan, Mulligan's attorney, attempted to refute many of the claims made by LAPD officials about his client's behavior on the night of the arrest.

LAPD's account of the evening depicts Mulligan as a desperate individual who was struggling through domestic troubles and exhausted from a 4-days-long trip on hallucinogenic drugs.

In a police report released to CBS Local, officers state that Mulligan told them that he was going through a divorce and that he hadn't slept in four days. The report also states that Mulligan admitted to using marijuana and to ingesting bath salts, a drug with similar effects similar to cocaine or methamphetamine.

Speaking to Patch on Wednesday morning, Flanagan accused LAPD of fabricating their story to justify the force used to arrest Mulligan, which left him with multiple facial fractures and a broken scapula, among other injuries. 

Flanagan said that police claims that they first encountered his client attempting to break into cars at the Jack in the Box restaurant on Eagle Rock Boulevard was false.

"They have no evidence of that," Flanagan said. "There was a call about somebody trying to flag down traffic near the restaurant, but there is no 911 call about somebody trying to break into cars at the Jack in the Box."

Further, Flanagan questioned why officers wouldn't take a sample of his client's blood if he admitted to using marijuana and bath salts.

"Don't you think they would have drawn blood at the time when it was still in his system to ensure that he was on something?" Flanagan asked.

Flanagan also pointed to the statements in the police report stating that Mulligan was calm and cooperative while he took his field sobriety test, which he passed.

After their first encounter with Mulligan, LAPD officials report that officers took him to the Highland Motel to rest.

"I've never heard of anything like that happening before," Flanagan said. "If he was complaining of exhaustion, why didn't they let him call his wife and ask to be picked up?"

Flanagan also suggested that officers fabricated a story about Mulligan admitting that he was going through a divorce to explain why he wasn't allowed to call his wife. 

"Everything was going fine for him at that time," Flangan said. "His marriage was fine, his daughter was at USC and his son was the quarterback for the football team at a private school."

After taking Mulligan to the motel, officers responded to a report of a man causing  a disturbance in the roadway at Lincoln and Eagle Rock Boulevards.

Lt. Andy Neiman told Patch that officers employed "categorical use force" in taking down Mulligan, who was allegedly baring his teeth and presenting his hands like claws.

Flanagan said that report didn't jibe with the police report statement that Mulligan was calm and cooperative with officers during his field sobriety test.

"This is all a set up to justify their behavior," Flanagan said.

LAPD officials declined to further comment on the story, citing that the case was now in litigation.

Mulligan is seeking $50 million in damages and claims he still suffers as a result of the beating, listing ailments from damaged nasal passages to post-traumatic stress, according to the LA Times.