Bredefeld ends pursuit of attorney fees over Fresno council colleague’s defamation lawsuit
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the amount paid by the city of Fresno for legal costs incurred by Councilmember Garry Bredefeld.
The city of Fresno spent about $25,000 last year to pay for City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld’s defense against a defamation lawsuit filed by Bredefeld’s council colleague Nelson Esparza.
Esparza ultimately dropped his lawsuit, which stemmed from Bredfeld’s accusations that Esparza attempted to extort then-City Attorney Douglas Sloan by threatening Sloan’s job in a private meeting in April 2022. Sloan subsequently resigned his position to take a new job as city attorney for the city of Santa Monica.
Because of Bredefeld’s role as a council member, the city took on the responsibility of paying for his legal defense, providing payments to Bredefeld’s attorney, Walter Whelan.
In a tentative ruling Wednesday, Fresno County Superior Court Judge Kristi Culver Kapetan denied a motion by Bredefeld that Esparza be ordered to pay for the legal fees, effectively dismissing Bredefeld’s effort to force Esparza to repay the money spent by the city for Bredefeld’s defense.
Bredefeld told The Fresno Bee on Thursday that he will accept Kapetan’s ruling and will move on from the controversy without an appeal.
Esparza was heartened by Kapetan’s ruling. “The decision from the court is further evidence that this whole ordeal has been a nothingburger from the very beginning,” he told The Bee. “It’s simply been a complete waste of taxpayer dollars by Bredefeld, (Fresno County District Attorney Lisa) Smittcamp, and everyone else who leaned into this manufactured scandal.”
Esparza had opposed Bredefeld’s motion for fees, asserting in court documents that “an award of attorney fees would simply result in double-dipping” by Bredefeld’s attorney. The city later joined in Esparza’s opposition.
In a statement Thursday, City Attorney Andrew Janz said the city “agreed not to pursue attorney’s fees against Nelson Esparza in exchange for him waiving his right to sue the City, current and former employees, and other council members for defamation arising out of the underlying case.”
The Esparza-Bredefeld case has been among the issues considered by the rest of the City Council in closed session since December.
“In no uncertain terms, (Bredefeld) does not want the taxpayers of the City of Fresno to bear the large and unnecessary expense caused by (Esparza’s) frivolous lawsuit,” Whelan wrote in court documents filed this week on Bredefeld’s behalf.
“I personally agree with the stance taken by my client and it is my choice … to pursue on behalf of Mr. Bredefeld an award of attorney’s fees which he has pledged to turn over to the City of Fresno,” Whelan added, “so that the taxpayers … are not harmed by this lawsuit.”
Earlier this month, Janz filed documents with the court disclaiming any interest in being reimbursed for the public money spent on Bredefeld’s defense and joined in Esparza’s opposition to Bredefeld’s motion for an award of attorneys’ fees.
After the court allowed Esparza to drop his lawsuit against Bredefeld in June 2022, “the Fresno City Council decided not to pursue any reimbursement of its attorneys’ fees” from Esparza,” Janz wrote in his declaration. “As such, the city claims no interest in the compensation that may be awarded from (Bredefeld’s) motion for attorneys’ fees and requests that the motion be denied.”
In his own legal declaration filed with the court, Bredefeld’s attorney said the city’s position effectively benefits Esparza with “an unlawful gift of public funds” by foregoing the potential award of attorneys’ fees from Esparza.
“Here, the majority of the members of the Fresno City Council apparently favor absolving (Esparza) of his statutory duty to pay for the attorney’s fees incurred by the City of Fresno in defending this case,” Whelan wrote. The agreement between Bredfeld and the city to cover his legal costs, he added, “requires the return of such funds back to the City of Fresno in the event (Bredefeld) is awarded attorney’s fees.”
“This Court should recognize the reality that, solely for political reasons, a few members of the Fresno City Council are seeking to benefit one individual at the expense of the taxpayers of the city of Fresno,” Whelan wrote.
Judge’s decision
Kapetan was unconvinced. “Counsel for (Bredefeld) does not contest that he has been paid by the City of Fresno for the fees incurred,” she wrote in the tentative ruling. “Thus, the City of Fresno is the real party in interest to this motion for attorney’s fees. … As the City of Fresno disclaimed interest in recovering the fees sought by this motion, the court finds the matter moot.”
Bredefeld represents Council District 6 covering much of northeast Fresno. Esparza’s District 7 encompasses a large swath of east-central Fresno.
Although Esparza dropped his defamation lawsuit against Bredefeld, Esparza was later charged by the Fresno County District Attorney’s office with criminal extortion related to his dealings with Sloan. The case was originally filed in July 2022 as a felony, but a judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor in November before the DA’s office dropped the charges in December.
This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 3:09 PM.
