Jury Foreman Seeking Probe Into Monroe’s Death Ousted

The foreman of the Los Angeles County Grand Jury, who has created a stir by pushing for a new investigation of Marilyn Monroe’s death, was removed Monday, reportedly after grand jurors complained that he had abused his authority.

A top court official confirmed Monday morning that Sam Cordova, 53, had been relieved of his post--at the same time Cordova was holding a press conference across town to call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Monroe’s 1962 death, which was officially ruled a suicide.

The decision to replace Cordova, authorities said, was made Thursday, before Cordova’s public call for a new look at the Monroe case.

Cordova, however, insisted in an interview Monday that his ouster was directly related to his interest in reexamining the sex symbol’s death.

“I have no doubt that that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, who last week labeled Cordova’s suggestion that the grand jury would investigate Monroe’s death “irresponsible almost beyond description,” said Monday that the ex-foreman had been given the choice of resigning or being replaced last week by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert R. Devich, supervising judge of the criminal courts.

The judge’s action was prompted, Reiner said, by complaints from other grand jury members, who had charged that Cordova was repeatedly making unauthorized statements on their behalf.

One source told The Times that Cordova had on several occasions requested official documents from area businesses, even though the grand jury had not formally voted to subpoena them. Cordova denied the allegations.

Devich is on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

Reiner and Thomas T. Johnson, presiding judge of the Superior Court, said they both had understood that Cordova had agreed in a meeting last week with Devich to submit a letter of resignation, effective Monday. Based on that understanding, Johnson said he, in consultation with Devich, named grand juror Charles T. Richardson, a retired newspaper publisher from Claremont, to succeed Cordova.

Said Reiner of Cordova, “He’s history.”

In an interview Monday afternoon, Cordova insisted that he had never agreed to resign and said he had no intention of doing so. Adding further confusion to the already bizarre turn of events, Cordova had denied at his morning press conference that he had even heard rumors concerning his possible ouster.

To resolve the confusion, Jack E. Goertzen, the assistant presiding judge who acted in Johnson’s stead, late Monday signed a formal order relieving Cordova of his responsibilities as foreman and naming Richardson as the new foreman.

Cordova will be allowed to remain a grand juror, but he said that for the time being, he does not intend to participate in the 23-member panel’s proceedings.

Officials were reluctant to discuss the specific reasons that some grand jurors had cited in requesting Cordova’s removal.

However, Johnson told The Times, “Nobody resigns out of the blue. There have been problems on the grand jury among the grand jurors. It was just not a situation that could continue. The feelings among various grand jurors were such that it was not operating as an effective grand jury.”

“I’m sure the judges were acting in their wisdom in doing what they felt was best for the rest of the grand jury,” said Richardson, who declined further comment.

Courthouse observers said they could not recall any previous ouster of a grand jury foreman. However, the first foreman of the 1984-85 grand jury, Berny Schwartz, resigned in midterm, reportedly after a falling out with other members of the grand jury.

Grand jury foremen are appointed by the presiding judge for a one-year term that begins each July 1.

Once responsible for bringing charges against most suspected criminals, the grand jury’s function in recent years has for the most part been limited to reviewing the performance of county agencies. The change was largely due to a 1978 state Supreme Court ruling that defendants indicted by the grand jury have the same right to a preliminary hearing that is afforded those charged directly by the district attorney’s office.

The recent furor over Monroe began Friday, when Cordova released a brief statement to the news media indicating that a request from the Board of Supervisors for a new probe of the sex symbol’s death had been referred to the grand jury’s criminal justice committee.

Later in the day, Reiner accused Cordova of being the unnamed source for a City News Service story that said the grand jury was expected to reopen the Monroe case. Her death was the subject of a 1982 review by the office of then-Dist. Atty. John Van de Kamp. The review concluded that “the cumulative evidence . . . fails to support any theory of criminal conduct.”

Reiner said there is no need for a new investigation, because the statute of limitations has expired on any crime except murder, adding that there is not “a scintilla of evidence” that Monroe’s death was a homicide.

At his Monday press conference, Cordova, insisting that he was still the grand jury foreman, called on the Board of Supervisors or the governor to appoint a special prosecutor to examine Monroe’s death.

“There is no doubt in my mind that there is enough evidence to substantiate a full-scale investigation by the grand jury,” he said. “Witnesses must be questioned under oath.

“Ira Reiner . . . is truly being irresponsible. He is insulting the independence of the grand jury of Los Angeles County.”

Cordova refused, however, to divulge any of the so-called new evidence, nor would he acknowledge that he had any more evidence than a five-page letter that had been forwarded recently by the Board of Supervisors from Robert F. Slatzer, a consultant for the ABC-TV news program, “20/20.” The letter suggests a possible “cover-up” of the circumstances surrounding Monroe’s death, including a suggestion that the actress died at a hospital, not at her home, six hours earlier than officially reported.

Reiner reacted to Cordova’s press conference with disdain and near disbelief.

“After (Cordova) informed Judge Devich he was resigning, and that the resignation, like the proverbial check, was in the mail, then he went out and in some sort of a swan song issued all of these incredible statements about the so-called grand jury investigation--once again exceeding his authority,” Reiner said.

Cordova is a former stockbroker, who for eight years operated the National Academy of Finance, a school for stockbrokers, with offices in downtown Los Angeles, Encino and Van Nuys. In recent years, he has been affiliated with Cordova Laboratories in Sylmar, which conducts research used to develop new insect repellents.