Mother of Missing Woman Sues Sheriff's Department

LOS ANGELES--The mother of Mitrice Richardson, who disappeared nine months ago after being released from the custody of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the L.A. County Sheriff's Department alleging negligence and wrongful death.

Latice Sutton filed the suit on behalf of herself and her 24-year-old daughter, a Cal State Fullerton grad.

Richardson was last seen walking out of the station shortly after midnight on Sept. 17, 2009, when she was released after being arrested for failing to pay an $89 bill at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu. A Geoffrey's worker had said in a phone call to the sheriff's station that Richardson was talking like she was on drugs.

She was released with no money and no mode of transportation. The sheriff's department has said that it followed protocol in releasing Richardson.

The filing of the lawsuit comes after Richardson's family viewed a surveillance tape showing her in a prison cell behaving erratically and in an infantile manner.

Richardson's family contends that deputies should have evaluated her further before deciding to release her.

"The L.A. County Sheriff's Department was grossly negligent, and the officers on that shift, grossly negligent in allowing her to leave and walk out without any form of communication with her family or friends," said Leo Terrell, the family's attorney, during a downtown news conference Tuesday.

Since Richardson went missing, officers and volunteers have conducted  numerous searches around the area where she was last seen.

Richardson would have turned 25 in April.

"My hope is she's alive," Sutton said at the news conference. "But based on how long she's been missing, she's either being held and transported or she's dead. I have to face that possibility."