LOS ANGELES – Attorneys for a former senior aide to City Councilman Curren Price who says she was wrongfully fired for being a whistleblower will get to depose a Price staff member early next month, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Angie Reyes-English’s Los Angeles Superior Court suit maintains the plaintiff was considered a “snitch” who gave prosecutors information about the councilman and alleged pay-for-play schemes. Reyes-English is currently a Hawthorne city councilwoman.
On Wednesday, after conferring with the attorneys, Judge William E. Weinberger ordered that the deposition of Jose Ugarte, Price’s deputy chief of staff for community outreach, take place on March 2. Reyes-English’s lawyers alleged that defense attorneys have engaged in “egregious game playing” by attempting to prevent them from deposing Ugarte, who is running to replace Price in District 9 because the incumbent is barred by term limits from seeking another four years in office.
The defense is “entirely to blame for blocking plaintiff from taking Mr. Ugarte’s deposition, which is critical for plaintiff to oppose” an upcoming hearing on the city’s motion to dismiss Reyes-English’s lawsuit, according to Reyes-English’s lawyers’ pleadings.
Price and those closest to him, including Ugarte, believed Reyes- English had disclosed information to prosecutors or other government agencies, according to the suit, which further states that Ugarte told Reyes-English that District 9 employees were angry at her because...
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