Dead child and a high five

A judge today threw out a lawsuit against the city by the mother of Suzie Peña, the 19-month-old toddler killed by an LAPD bullet during a 2005 SWAT action prompted by her father. That's one piece of the story: the judge ruled the shooting, while tragic, was reasonable. The next piece of the story occurred later this morning when the L.A. Times' Spencer Weiner snapped a photo of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich high-fiving a deputy at the news. Tongues are wagging, but Trutanich explains: "I'm a father, I understand what it means to have a child killed. But you know there's a big difference between killing a kid because of something that overtly you did wrong and charging the city of Los Angeles, which was there not only trying to save that child's life, [but also] the mother, and the stepdaughter, the citizens around."

Noted: Celeste Fremon will be on KCRW's "Which Way, L.A.?" tonight at 7:30 p.m. talking about the case. She blogs at Witness L.A.: "Counter to what I’d originally predicted, the city put on a very convincing case."

Previously on LA Observed:
No charges in Pena case
LAPD: Can't pin Suzie Peña on any officer

Photo: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times