CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SANTA ANA

A jury convicted former Orange school board trustee Steve Rocco of petty theft Thursday for stealing a 14-ounce bottle of Heinz ketchup last September from a dining area at Chapman University.

Rocco, an eccentric 58-year-old Santa Ana recluse known for wearing dark glasses and espousing shadowy theories about a powerful cabal he calls the Partnership, won a seat on the school board in 2004.

He spent his term largely refusing to speak with colleagues, and survived a recall attempt.

At dispute during the two-day trial was a plastic ketchup bottle valued at $1.20.

His public defender argued that no theft occurred because the partially full bottle was worthless.

The trial focused on such issues as the nature and placement of condiments on the Orange campus and whether Heinz ketchup ought to be refrigerated.

Rocco defied his lawyer and took the stand in his defense, saying he had not taken the ketchup, but recycled it.

He said he does not use ketchup. He will be sentenced next month.

The district attorney’s office will seek probation, said spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder.

Schroeder also defended the decision to prosecute the case, a process she estimates cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.

If authorities didn’t prosecute petty theft cases, even those involving condiments, she said, it would signal that they condone small-time stealing.

“This case is not about Mr. Rocco, and this case is not really about ketchup,” she said. “It’s about keeping people from taking things from private property.”

Asked if he would appeal, Rocco answered: “It’s not over.”

-- Tony Barboza