San Diego Official, Accused of Misusing Funds, to Be Tried
Councilman Uvaldo Martinez was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on 24 felony counts of misappropriating and falsely accounting for public funds in connection with his alleged misuse of a city credit card.
After a six-day preliminary hearing in San Diego Municipal Court, county prosecutors asked Judge Joseph K. Davis to drop four additional charges against Martinez. Testimony by a waitress Tuesday undermined the prosecution’s version of those allegations, Deputy Dist. Atty. Allan Preckel said.
Davis ordered Martinez to appear in San Diego County Superior Court on July 22 for a hearing at which his right to court-appointed counsel will be reviewed in light of a just-enacted pay raise increasing the salary of Martinez and other City Council members from $35,000 to $40,000 a year.
Martinez obtained a court-appointed lawyer after saying he was unable to afford a private attorney during grand jury and pretrial proceedings.
Martinez will be tried on charges that he illegally used a city-issued credit card to purchase $1,840 worth of meals and drinks.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
