THOUSAND OAKS : Bid for New Trial Against Deputy Fails

The wife of a Thousand Oaks doctor has lost a bid for a new trial in her lawsuit claiming she was unlawfully arrested while arguing with a sheriff’s deputy over the medical treatment of an injured child.

A court order filed earlier this week said there was “substantial evidence in support of the verdict” that Sgt. Robert K. Sparks legally arrested Patricia Wilmeth in September, 1989, and used no excessive force when taking her into custody.

Wilmeth, 47, had sought more than $300,000 in damages, claiming that she suffered head and wrist injuries when she was forced into Sparks’ patrol car. Sparks’ attorney, Alan E. Wisotsky, told jurors that Wilmeth injured herself by flailing her arms to keep from being arrested.

In a May verdict, jurors in the civil trial voted 10 to 2 in favor of Sparks. Wilmeth sought a new trial, claiming, among other things, that there had been jury misconduct.

Retired appellate Justice Richard Abbe, acting as a Superior Court judge, denied the request.

Sparks, who was a patrol deputy at the time, arrested Wilmeth after an argument over who should treat an 8-year-old girl who was hit by a car in front of the Wilmeth home in the exclusive North Ranch subdivision of Westlake Village.

Dr. Jo Wilmeth treated the girl but his actions were objected to by two county firefighters. After the girl was taken away by ambulance, Patricia Wilmeth joined the argument.

Sparks and other witnesses told jurors that Patricia Wilmeth yelled at the deputy for at least a minute--and maybe as long as five--and called him an off-color name before she was arrested.

Sparks said he warned her repeatedly to step back or she would be arrested. After her arrest, the district attorney’s office declined to prosecute her.