Santa Ana : Lawyer Allowed to Stay on Adult Movie Case

An attorney hired to represent the city in its attempt to have an X-rated movie theater declared a public nuisance survived an attempt by the theater’s attorneys to have him disqualified from the case Monday.

Superior Court Judge David Sills ruled that James Clancy of Sun Valley, who recently signed a $1-a-year contract that replaced the one that paid him $25 an hour, can continue to work for the city. The state Supreme Court recently disqualified Clancy from representing the City of Corona in an attempt to close an adult bookstore there due to his financial interest in the case. Tom Steele, attorney for the Mitchell Bros. theater chain, which owns the Mitchell Bros. theater at 1565 West 17th St., had attempted to have him removed from the Santa Ana case on the same grounds because Clancy’s contract with Santa Ana was similar to the one he has with Corona.

Steele said he would appeal the Superior Court decision and called the new contract “a subterfuge” because it allows the City Council to approve payments to Clancy. “It’s not a subterfuge,” countered City Atty. Edward Cooper. “The contract is clear (about the council’s option) on its face.”

The judge also denied requests by Steele to force Santa Ana to identify the anonymous donor who gave $25,000 to defray the city’s costs of employing Clancy and to have that donation returned. Clancy has been paid a total of $196,000 since he was hired by Santa Ana in 1979.