On Nov. 1, 2002, plaintiff Gaspar Zavala, a man in his 30s, had a petition filed against him by the District Attorney of Los Angeles to determine whether he was to be civilly committed under California’s Sexual Violent Predator Act. Zavala was represented by attorneys from the Law Offices of the Los Angeles County Public Defender over a period of approximately 13 years, during which he was held in custody awaiting trial. Los Angeles County Superior Court eventually dismissed the public defender’s office and appointed private counsel to represent Zavala. In 2016, the Los Angeles County Superior Court dismissed the petition, and Zavala was released from custody. Zavala sued the Law Offices of the Los Angeles County Public Defender; former public defender Ronald Brown; former Chief Deputy Public Defender Kelly Emling; the supervisor at the public defender’s office, Mark Ridley-Thomas; a division chief at the public defender’s office, Michael Suzuki; and Los Angeles County. Zavala alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted violations of his civil and constitutional rights based on their deliberate indifference to the processing of his case. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that there were practices and customs in place at the public defender’s office that resulted in Zavala’s case being delayed for such a long period of time. Counsel asserted that as a result, Zavala’s due process rights and right to a speedy trial were violated. Plaintiff’s counsel also contended that Ridley-Thomas, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, was active in the supervision of the public defender’s office, that Ridley-Thomas was aware of the great delays in the processing of Zavala’s case, and that Ridley-Thomas was indifferent to the violation of Zavala’s constitutional rights., Zavala spent 13 years, nine months, and 10 days in pretrial detention, awaiting action on the petition filed against him. He claimed that as a result, he suffered from emotional distress. Zavala sought recovery of damages for his emotional pain and suffering.