In a surprise move, attorneys for the LA Alliance for Human Rights on Tuesday, June 3, withdrew their subpoenas seeking testimony from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and two council members, saying they feared the city would use the fight over their appearances to delay a court case on homelessness.
The Alliance’s attorney, Matthew Umhofer, told reporters the group feared the city would appeal any decision to compel the testimony of the elected officials, which could stall the hearing for months while the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in. Instead, he said, the Alliance believes there is already enough evidence on the record for the judge to rule.
“We’re taking away the city’s ability to delay a decision on this issue,” said Umhofer, an attorney with Umhofer, Mitchell & King LLP.
In a statement to Southern California News Group, Theane Evangelis, a lawyer from the law firm, Gibson Dunn, which is representing the city, said subpoenas lack legal merit.
“The Alliance lawyers apparently recognized that there was no legal basis for their subpoenas – they should never have issued them in the first place,” she said. “The city is complying with the agreement settling a 2020 lawsuit and it is indisputable that thousands of new housing units have been built and homelessness is down in L.A. for the first time in years.”
The move came as a sometimes-contentious evidentiary hearing entered its final stretch. The hearing, presided over by U.S. District Court judge David Carter, stems from a 2020 lawsuit brought by the Alliance, a coalition of business owners and residents that accuses the city and county of failing to adequately address the homelessness crisis.
At the center of the case is a 2022 settlement, in which the city agreed to create 12,915 new shelter beds over five years and provide housing for at least 60% of unhoused people in each council district.
The LA Alliance contends the city has failed to meet those terms and is asking the court to appoint a receiver – a neutral third party which would take over key elements of the city’s homelessness response, including oversight of agencies like LAHSA, and the mayor’s Inside Safe program.
Bass, along with Councilmembers Traci Park and Monica Rodriguez, had been subpoenaed to testify — a request strongly opposed by the city’s legal team.
In court filing, the city’s attorneys argued that the officials are “apex witnesses”—high-ranking government officials who should not be compelled to testify without compelling justification.
They also contended the subpoenas imposed an “undue burden” on the officials, risk revealing information that is legally protected from disclosure and fail to provide adequate time to comply.
Umhofer made the withdrawal request as testimony of a witness wrapped up on the sixth day of the hearing. He told the court the city had indicated it would take the “extraordinary measure” of appealing to the Ninth Circuit, if Carter ordered the officials to testify.
“We are surprised and troubled by the fact that the city would attempt to keep the mayor off the stand,” he told the court. “It’s quite frankly, cowardice, from our perspective.”
Evangelis, a lawyer representing the city, shot back, and called Umhofer’s statement “uncalled for”
“Of course the mayor and our City Council are 1000% committed to solving the homelessness crisis, and also to fulfilling the city’s obligations under the agreement,” she said.
Judge Carter stepped in to cool tensions. “Can we just bring it down a notch, ” he told both sides. Carter then asked the city’s legal team whether they accepted the withdrawal. They said yes.
Bass last appeared in court in March in connection with the case.
The hearing began May 27 and is expected to conclude this week. Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday. Both sides will then submit final written briefs. A decision from the judge would take up a month or so, Umhofer said.
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