Grand Jury Impasse : Foreman Was Ousted After Strained Relations With Others Left Panel Unable to Function

Sylmar businessman Sam Cordova was replaced last week as foreman of the Los Angeles County Grand Jury after numerous incidents--some minor, others serious--that so strained his relations with other jurors that the panel virtually stopped functioning, The Times has learned.

The situation had so deteriorated by late last month that several grand jurors suggested that they would resign unless Cordova was removed, according to sources close to the panel. The talk of resignation was in part prompted by a threat made by Cordova to file libel suits against some or all of eight grand jury members who had signed a letter to a Superior Court judge harshly criticizing Cordova’s conduct.

In interviews over the last week, grand jurors and others familiar with the circumstances surrounding Cordova’s ouster told The Times that Cordova repeatedly antagonized other jury members and gave the appearance of abusing his authority.

The complaint most frequently voiced was that Cordova acted as an independent agent, often using grand jury stationery or invoking the grand jury’s name in correspondence or conversations without the panel’s approval.

“He had his own agenda,” one grand juror said.

For his part, Cordova has strongly denied the charges.

In one incident that occurred last summer, shortly after he began what was to have been a one-year term as foreman, Cordova contacted Bank of America officials and indicated that the grand jury was interested in looking into massive loan losses that the bank had reported earlier this year, according to several sources. In fact, the jury had never considered investigating the matter and probably did not have the authority to do so, the sources said.

Those who talked to The Times emphatically reiterated Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner’s earlier statement that the decision by the county’s top judges to remove Cordova came before the ex-foreman’s call for a new investigation of the August, 1962, death of actress Marilyn Monroe.

“I think the district attorney would have removed me for other reasons later on because I was too independent for him,” Cordova said. “But this (Marilyn Monroe case) was the perfect reason.”

Thomas T. Johnson, the county Superior Court presiding judge, disagreed.

“Mr. Cordova’s ideas of his responsibilities and authorities turned out to be quite different from reality,” Johnson said. “It was just one thing after another. . . . The jury was not proceeding efficiently with its alloted tasks. . . . He just turned out to be the wrong man for the job.”

Judge Robert R. Devich, who supervises the court’s criminal division, said in an interview this week that he acted to replace Cordova only after he became convinced that animosity among the grand jurors was seriously affecting the panel’s work.

“It seemed like more time was being devoted to trying to resolve the disharmony than working on the problems they were faced with, their own investigations, their committee reports and things of that nature,” Devich said.

Devich Is Supervisor

Although Johnson is formally responsible for appointing the grand jury foreman, the day-to-day supervision of the 23-member panel falls to Devich.

According to officials close to the situation, Cordova, 53, was summoned to Devich’s chambers Oct. 24 and given the choice of resigning or being replaced. Devich acted after he received two letters, signed by eight grand jurors, that detailed their complaints against the foreman.

After the first letter was written, Devich confirmed, Cordova threatened to file lawsuits against the grand jury members who had signed it.

That threat, one source said, was the turning point in Cordova’s downfall.

“I was made aware that he intended to sue some members of the grand jury,” Devich said. “He was told that if in fact that was his intention, then of course it would certainly affect his ability to be the foreman or be a member of the grand jury. It would definitely create a conflict of interest.”

Silent on Reported Threat

Cordova, in a recent interview, declined to comment on his reported threat to sue other grand jurors.

Without saying whether he asked for Cordova’s resignation, Devich said Cordova offered during their meeting to step down both as foreman and as a grand jury member. Cordova promised to write a resignation letter the next day, the judge added.

The following Monday, after Johnson and Devich had named grand juror Charles T. Richardson to succeed Cordova, Cordova held a press conference. Telling reporters he was still the grand jury foreman, Cordova called for a special prosecutor to reinvestigate the Monroe case.

Later that day, when it was clear that a resignation letter had not arrived, another judge signed a formal order removing Cordova as foreman.

Function Has Changed

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 changes were largely because of a 1978 state Supreme Court ruling expanding defendants’ rights to preliminary hearings.

The 23 grand jury members and four alternates serve for a one-year term, which begins July 1, and are paid $25 a day. The jurors are chosen at random from among a pool of candidates, each of whom is nominated by a Superior Court judge.

Panel members contacted by The Times were hesitant to discuss specific complaints against Cordova.

However, The Times learned that the more serious complaints against Cordova involved incidents similar to the Bank of America affair, in which he made unauthorized statements on behalf of the jury. Equally annoying, some grand jurors said, was Cordova’s habit of using official grand jury stationery for personal correspondence and to make personal requests.

Example Cited

For example, they charged, Cordova wrote a letter to officials of the county Sheriff’s Department suggesting a promotion for a deputy who had chauffeured him back to his office after a tour of a county jail facility.

Cordova also used his position to seek out a ride on the Goodyear blimp, sources charged, apparently miffing other grand jury members who were not invited on the trip. Similarly, sources said Cordova parked in the Criminal Courthouse’s underground garage, while other jurors were forced to park outdoors.

Of the Bank of America incident, Cordova said, “That is a bunch of baloney.”

Cordova said it was suggested during a “brain-storming session” early in the grand jury’s term that the jury take a look at the problems of the savings and loan and banking industries. Cordova said he contacted a Bank of America vice president.

“All I was trying to do was to get some information so I could turn it over to the proper committee,” he said.

Bank Was Concerned

However, another source said concerned bank officials later contacted the district attorney’s office to inquire if the bank were under investigation.

Cordova said he suggested that the sheriff’s deputy be transferred to the department’s anti-gang unit because “he was a man who appeared to me to be specially qualified to handle gangs because he was from a gang area.”

Of the blimp ride, he said, Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates arranged it and Cordova kept the ride secret from most other jurors because “you can only get six on the blimp (anyway) . . . so why upset the others.”

Cordova, who does not intend to continue serving as a grand jury member, said most of its members “are very, very old people, some of them are going through their second childhood. . . . Two of them used to fall asleep at every hearing.”

Vigor, Refusal Cited

Several were turned off, he said, by his vigor and by his refusal to appoint them to committee posts that they requested.

“I’m in the highest productive years of my life at 53,” he said. “I move fast. The man that replaced me could be my dad.”

The one-time stockbroker, who is affiliated with a family run laboratory that conducts research used to develop insect repellents, insisted that many of the issues came to the fore only because “the D.A. started to undermine me.”

“The D.A.’s office started the whole thing because they wanted to keep control. The D.A. has a tremendous hold on the grand jury system.”

The final straw, he said, was the Monroe case.

Her Name Should Be Cleared

“The important thing about (the) affair is that the name of Marilyn Monroe should be cleared,” Cordova said. “She’s been accused, possibly falsely, of killing herself.”

Until the end, Cordova did have some supporters.

One grand jury member, who conceded that there was overwhelming sentiment on the panel in favor of Cordova’s ouster, said: “He’s a good man; he was trying to do a good job. My feeling has always been he was doing the right thing. These were little squabbles that really didn’t mean anything.”

He added, echoing other jurors’ sentiments: “I think we can go about our business; the thing has been resolved, and we can move ahead.”