Attorney Named for Martinez Case : Judge Finds Councilman Can’t Afford to Hire Counsel; Probe Begins Feb. 11

A court-appointed attorney was named Friday to represent San Diego City Councilman Uvaldo Martinez because he can’t afford to hire private counsel for a grand jury probe of his city credit card use.

Jerry Coughlan, a former assistant U.S. attorney, was appointed as Martinez’s new attorney in a closed-door hearing Friday morning before Superior Court Judge Richard D. Huffman, who found that the councilman, who earns $35,000 a year, would not be able to afford private legal help.

Martinez said during the closed hearing he had to state “on the record . . . my financial condition,” including that fact that he still owes $18,000 to his former attorney, William Grauer, and his former public relations man Don Harrison for their work since late last year when the scandal broke about the councilman’s spending habits. Part of the debt also includes payment for a private investigator and an accountant.

Grauer, a former federal prosecutor now with the law firm of Gray Carey Ames & Frye, dropped Martinez as a client more than a week ago because he has not paid his bills. Harrison, serving as the campaign manager for Councilman Bill Cleator, also dropped Martinez as a client.

Martinez said he would meet with Coughlan as soon as possible to discuss the case. “We’ve met, but obviously this morning we haven’t discussed this case in any depth.”

He also said he wasn’t concerned about how it would look to have a court-appointed attorney handling his case. “I’m more concerned about having adequate representation than public appearance at this point,” Martinez said.

The grand jury probe, scheduled to begin Feb. 11, will investigate possible fraud by Martinez and his former top aide, Rudy Murillo, in connection with their use of city-issued credit cards during 1984 and 1985. During a 12-month period, the pair charged $9,500 worth of meals and travel on the cards, bills paid with taxpayer money.

The district attorney’s office investigated the charges after more than two dozen people told newspaper reporters they either didn’t dine with Martinez as the councilman indicated on city expense forms, or did not discuss city business during the meals. On Dec. 17, prosecutors referred the matter to the grand jury without a recommendation.

In the wake of the Martinez scandal, city officials revised their regulations on business expenses. Starting today, high-ranking city administrators will no longer be given city credit cards, must observe strict limits on meal charges, and must submit receipts for reimbursement for business meals of more than $15.

Huffman, who prosecuted former Mayor Roger Hedgecock in his first felony trial before being appointed to the bench, said testimony about Martinez’s financial condition has been sealed and is not for public inspection. He declined to comment on why he found that Martinez could not afford a private attorney, but added that the law requires him to take into consideration more than the councilman’s $35,000 annual salary.

“Under the law, you have to look at their total economic circumstance,” Huffman said. “Not just income, but income, assets, debts, size of family, living expenses. And it may be that in any given case in which an attorney is appointed the county is able to recover the cost of defense. But it involves more than saying just ‘How much do you earn a month?’ ”

Martinez said he still intends to pay off the $18,000 debt. Through telephone calls and fund-raising efforts by supporters, he hopes his defense fund, San Diegans for Councilman Martinez, will erase the debt by the end of February.