Ex-PTA principal awarded $5.7M after couple planted drugs in her car

Orange County couple was ordered to pay $5.7
million for planting drugs in the car of a former
PTA president in a failed bid to have her arrested.
A jury on Friday made the award to Kelli Peters.
The Superior Court panel deliberated less than an
hour before finding that Kent Easter of Irvine and
his ex-wife, Jill Easter, acted with malice,
oppression or fraud, the Orange County Register
reported.
Kent Easter declared bankruptcy before the civil
trial but such protection doesn’t extend to the
lawsuit damages, said Rob Marcereau, Peters’
attorney.
Authorities said the Easters had an ongoing feud
with Peters that started with a comment she
made about their 7-year-old son when they
planted prescription painkillers, marijuana and a
pot pipe in Peters’ car in 2011. They then called
police, who briefly detained her at Plaza Vista
School in Irvine, where she volunteered.
Peters testified that she was humiliated as a
police officer searched the car as her own
daughter watched.
“I was crying and begging for him to not
put the drugs on the car, because people
would see it,” Peters said. “Everybody was
looking at me.”
She was questioned for about two hours.
Kent Easter, representing himself during the case,
argued that Peters was exaggerating her distress
in order to reap a financial reward.
“The fact that something really bad was
done to a person does not give them a
winning Powerball number,” he told the
jury.
Easter declined comment after the verdict and Jill
Easter, who also represented herself, was not
present in court for the verdict, the Register said.
Peters said the Easters have never shown
remorse for their action.
“This was really not about money, this was
about standing up to people that pick on
other people and telling them it’s not OK to
do this,” she said, wiping away tears. “I
wouldn’t have gone this far had they said
they were sorry,” Peters said.
In 2014, Kent Easter was convicted of felony false
imprisonment. He spent 87 days in jail. Jill Easter
pleaded guilty to the same charge and spent
about 60 days behind bars.