Vicki I. Sarmiento

Vicki I. Sarmiento was born in La Paz, Bolivia on October 27, 1958. Her parents, Vicente and Irma, and her siblings, Daisy and Vince, arrived in the United States in July of 1965, when Vicki was six (6) years old. She grew up on Eastwood Avenue in Santa Ana, California, and attended John Muir Elementary, Lathrop Intermediate, and Santa Ana High School. Her modest home was always filled with extended family and was considered the epicenter of a growing Bolivian immigrant community. Santa Ana, even back then, was a tough place to grow up, but Vicki found refuge in reading, studying, and excelling in school. At the age of fifteen (15), her life’s purpose would change when she started working after school at the Law Offices of Milton C. Grimes. There, Vicki found her love of the law, but more importantly, she met her life-long mentors, Milton and Eloise Grimes. Vicki was married twice. She was widowed from her first husband Antranik Geuvjehizian and is survived by her second husband, Dale Galipo.

Following her graduation from Santa Ana High School, Vicki attended U.C. Irvine where she received her B.S. in Social Science and a B.A. in Spanish Literature. She spent two (2) years in Spain, studying in Madrid and Barcelona, where she discovered her love for traveling. Thereafter, she attended UC College of Law San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of Law) where she earned her juris doctor degree. At UC Irvine, Vicki was a founding member of “Mujeres Latinas” where she organized for the rights of minorities and women. At Hastings, she served as President of La Raza Law Students Association, an organization focused on the recruitment of Latino law students and their involvement in community work for the indigent in the San Francisco area. She was a devoted and disciplined student who coordinated study groups and supported her fellow peers with reassurance when the rigors and demands of law school became overwhelming.

After her admission to the State Bar of California in 1988, Vicki began working for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, prosecuting cases on behalf of the city, and gaining extensive trial experience. In 1991, she started her own practice, representing clients in personal injury and civil rights cases, her true calling. As a civil rights attorney, she specialized in injury and wrongful death cases arising from police brutality, excessive force, in-custody deaths, denial of medical care to inmates, assaults and sexual abuse of minors in juvenile detention facilities, wrongful convictions, and racial profiling.

Filing actions against the government for violations of constitutional rights, under color of law, is not for the timid, and she proudly and passionately joined the ranks of many other civil rights warriors, which is not hyperbole. She once said about civil rights lawyers at a Forum on Police Misconduct organized by Congresswoman Maxine Waters, “they will hire top law firms to outspend us, outman us, and try to break our spirit.” But she persevered, and her practice prospered, notching important legal successes and honors along the way. Directly or indirectly, her cases were impactful and spurred meaningful systemic change.

o In J.M.M. v. County of Los Angeles, et al., a case involving the assault of a minor in a juvenile detention facility leaving him quadriplegic led to improved training of staff in monitoring of youth who have sustained head trauma.

o In Estate of Angela M. Zuniga v. County of San Bernardino, et al., a case involving the death of a female inmate who suffered complications from a C-section after she was returned to the jail facility led to the addition of policies and procedures for the care of post-partum inmates where such policies were non-existent before the lawsuit.

o In Andre Chapman v. Florida Dept. of Corrections et al., a case against prison guards involving the shower death of a schizophrenic inmate led to sweeping reforms in the Florida prison system.

o A class-action against Six Flags Magic Mountain led to the elimination of the park’s policy of racial profiling which unfairly targeted Blacks and Latinos.

o In Delia McElfresh v. City of Pasadena et al., the police shooting case of Stand and Deliver and E.R. actress, Vanessa Marquez, sparked protests and a documentary surrounding the mishandling by the police of a welfare check and 5150 determinations.

o In Flores v. Los Angeles County, the case of 11-year-old Ashley Flores who died from an asthma attack alleged the gross mishandling of 911 calls by the City of Lynwood.

There were dozens of other cases over a 36-year career in which she obtained multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, and ultimately justice, on behalf of many civil rights litigants.

Based on her long-standing interest in representing indigent and minority communities, Vicki accepted difficult and often risky cases where important civil rights issues were at stake, becoming a respected leader in her field as a result. She testified before a congressional panel on police excessive force matters, she gave televised legal commentary during the O.J. Simpson trial, and she was featured in the documentary, “90 Minutes”, for her work in the Vanessa Marquez case. Some of her other cases led to published appellate opinions that established important and often-cited precedent, benefitting and improving the chances of success for future civil rights plaintiffs. She was named one of the “Top Lawyers” of 2017-2018 by Pasadena Magazine and a National Lawyer’s Guild Honoree in 2021. She was a frequent panelist speaking on civil rights issues, including at the National Police Accountability Project, Consumer Attorneys of California, and volunteered at a civil rights clinic at U.C. Irvine’s Law School.

Vicki’s compassion, empathy, hard work, and persistence were the guideposts which allowed her to excel as a civil rights attorney and champion for social justice. Mentoring young lawyers to continue this challenging work was also important to Vicki. The camaraderie she developed with her peers in the civil rights community was the result of her willingness to share information and to offer guidance based on her vast experience. For this and her important contributions to the field, she will be missed as the passionate “Civil Rights Warrior”, and unapologetic advocate for the powerless and marginalized in our society.

But Vicki’s stellar career was not her grandest achievement in this world. The source of Vicki’s greatest pleasure and sense of accomplishment came from the personal relationships she created and nurtured. In a world where everyone is busy and does not have time for personal connections, Vicki’s most precious gift to those she loved was the gift of time. Vicki miraculously made time for everyone who came to her. She was a devoted wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and colleague who answered every call and text message. She was there to celebrate every triumph, and to uplift during life challenges. Beautiful and brilliant Vicki will forever live in our hearts and minds.

Vicente Sarmiento Memorial Scholarship

Vicki Sarmiento, a civil rights attorney, established this scholarship in memory of her father, Vicente Sarmiento. This scholarship is for undergraduate students majoring in Criminal Justice Administration, with a demonstrated commitment to reforming the criminal justice system and/or demonstrated interest in improving the conditions of confinement of the incarcerated. Link below.

https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/donor-form?svcid=tcs&formId=83c96193-ac02-4e91-9759-87a48b51ee05&envid=p-Gsq3bzpvZki81XX5qlVK3g&zone=usa

Celebration of Life - Reception

If you would like to join the Sarmiento Family for the Celebration of Life for Vicki, please review the link to RSVP: https://www.evite.com/event/0001MNHFO6QVIIKXIEPO3NMVV32WOY?utm_campaign=send_sharable_link&utm_source=evitelink&utm_medium=sharable_invite