D.A. to Seek Dismissal of Fiedler Case

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner today announced that his office will recommend dismissal of an indictment against Rep. Bobbi Fiedler for allegedly offering a $100,000 campaign contribution to lure state Sen. Ed Davis out of the Republican U.S. Senate primary.

“I have reviewed and assessed the evidence. . . . There is insufficient evidence to indicate a violation of law by Bobbi Fiedler,” Reiner declared at an hourlong press conference. “Was there probable cause to believe that she was involved? Frankly, I think the answer is yes. But that’s about as far as it goes.”

Reiner added his office will continue to pursue the case against Fiedler’s fiance and top aide, Paul Clarke, who is charged with violating the same state Election Code statute, which makes it illegal to pay or offer money to a candidate to secure his withdrawal from an election.

Pretrial Hearing Friday

A pretrial hearing for both defendants is scheduled for Friday before Superior Court Judge Robert T. Altman. Although Altman could reject the dismissal motion, such action is highly unlikely because of the district attorney’s position.

Fiedler was not immediately available for comment.

Reiner’s decision appears to directly contradict statements made by his top aides during the last three weeks while the district attorney vacationed in Europe and was unavailable for comment.

As recently as Tuesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven A. Sowders, assigned to prosecute the high-profile case, said he was preparing arguments to counter the defense’s motion to dismiss the case against Fiedler.

‘Not Our Conclusion’

Moreover, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert Garcetti, acting in Reiner’s stead during his absence, had repeatedly insisted that “if the evidence established her innocence, we could not and would not go forward. That is not our conclusion.”

Reiner, at his press conference, declared that his decision was in keeping with his office’s initial recommendations to the Los Angeles County Grand Jury that it indict Clarke but not Fiedler. The panel indicted Fiedler anyway.

Reiner said that during the last three weeks, his staff attempted to gather additional evidence on Fiedler to determine whether to proceed against her. After a series of meetings following his return to work Tuesday, Reiner said, he concluded that there was no additional evidence that would warrant prosecution.

Fiedler, 48, and Clarke, 39, were indicted by the grand jury in late January--just before Reiner left town--after a two-month investigation in which Davis’ campaign manager, Martha Zilm, made a series of secret tape recordings of telephone conversations and meetings with Fiedler staffers, including the defendants, at the direction of the district attorney’s office.

Davis Not Surprised

Davis said in a telephone interview today that he was not surprised by Reiner’s decision, since Reiner’s office had recommended against indicting the Northridge congresswoman.

“It’s pretty obvious when the prosecutor does not want to go forward with the case that the case is not going to go anywhere,” the Valencia senator said.

But Davis believes that voters will still have doubts about Fiedler because of her closeness to Clarke.

“It would be extremely difficult to think that Clarke operated in a vacuum, given their close relationship,” Davis said.

Reiner refused to speculate on the possible damage the indictment of Fiedler has caused to her Senate campaign. He also said he would not have done anything differently had he been in town during the last three weeks and said his aides did not oppose today’s decision.

Garcetti, after the news conference, said he did not feel he had been overruled.

“Between a grand jury indictment and a trial, there is invariably additional investigation and constant evaluation,” the No. 2 man in the office said. “It was indeed our intention to go forward with the case but then we all got together yesterday and discussed the evidence. The evidence did not warrant prosecution.”