Ex-Police Chief Allen Released From Jail Pending Appeal of Trespass Conviction

Former Santa Ana Police Chief Edward J. Allen, who was jailed two weeks ago to serve a 120-day sentence for trespassing at an abortion clinic, was freed from custody Friday after his attorney argued successfully that he should remain free pending an appeal.

Allen, 78, and co-defendant Ralph A. Buglione, 64, of Garden Grove, were released from the Orange County Jail after West Municipal Judge Marvin G. Weeks agreed with their attorney, Robert L. Sassone, that they could be free while their case is pending appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Allen, reached at home late Friday, said his release from Orange County’s main jail for men in downtown Santa Ana at about 4:30 p.m. came as a welcome surprise.

“I was surprised, because the jailer said, ‘OK, Allen, you’re free, you’re discharged.’ I asked, ‘As of when?’ He said, ‘As of now.’ ”

After a meal with his family at a local restaurant, Allen said: “I’m feeling pretty good now, mainly because I’m out. It’s not very pleasant in there.”

All Other Appeals Exhausted

Prior to Sassone’s appeal to the nation’s highest court, all appeals at the state level were exhausted.

The two men were convicted for trespassing at the Cypress Family Planning Assn. Medical Group on March 28, 1984. Both were involved in a noisy anti-abortion demonstration involving about 100 persons. All the protesters except Allen and Buglione remained outside the clinic’s doors.

After their conviction last year, the two men were offered probation if they promised not to trespass at any abortion clinic. But they refused to comply with that condition.

Two weeks ago, West Municipal Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary denied a motion by Sassone that the men should remain free while the appeal was pending. Sassone said Friday’s motion before Weeks was “almost indentical” to the one O’Leary denied.

“The code says that anyone convicted of a misdemeanor has the absolute right to an appeal and can remain free while the appeal is pending,” Sassone said.

In Failing Health

The attorney also said that Allen, who served as Santa Ana police chief from 1955 to 1972, has been in failing health since he was jailed on July 18.

“He looks like something out of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp,” Sassone said.

He added that Allen, who has had two previous heart attacks, has lost much weight because he was unable to eat jail food because of a heart condition.

Allen said Friday that it took jail officials “four or five days” to provide him with food he could eat on his restricted, non-fat diet. He said he lost about two pounds during his two-week stay in the jail cell, isolated from other prisoners.

During his stay, Allen said he received “hundreds of letters” of support for his position on abortion, and he maintained that the sentence handed down by Judge O’Leary was “way out of line.”

“She gave a child molester 120 days,” he said. “We go into an abortion clinic where they’re murdering thousands of babies and I get the same sentence for trespassing.”

Allen said he remains unrepentant.

“I’m happy to be home, but nothing has changed about my attitude towards abortion.”

Times staff writer Kristina Lindgren contributed to this story.