Young’s Bid for Names in Scandal Is Rebuffed

Former Assemblyman Bruce E. Young of Norwalk, facing fraud charges in the W. Patrick Moriarty political corruption case, suffered a setback Friday in a bid to force government disclosure of the names of all political officials ever involved with prostitutes supplied by Moriarty.

A request by Young’s lawyer for the names of all state, local and federal officials who may have been “provided sexual favors at houses of prostitution” run by two women linked to the Moriarty case was tentatively rejected by a Los Angeles federal judge.

The preliminary decision by U.S. District Judge Dickran N. Tevrizian followed the first disclosure in court documents of the identity of two former madams used by Moriarty in the 1970s and early 1980s to entertain politicians and bankers.

Women Identified

In court documents requesting the potentially explosive information, Young’s lawyer, Donald H. Heller of Sacramento, identified the two women as Sandy Dunbar, “a prostitute as well as a madam” who once operated out of a Beverly Hills penthouse, and Eileen Mayberry of Los Angeles.

Dunbar, linked directly to Young in the case, is expected to be a government witness against the former Democratic legislator, who has admitted involvement with a prostitute, but who claims that he did not know the sexual encounters were being paid for by Moriarty.

While Heller identified Mayberry only as being another “madam,” former Moriarty aides have told The Times that Dunbar once worked for Mayberry before going into business for herself. She is not expected to be a government witness, and Heller declined to elaborate on his reasons for bringing her name into the case.

Heller, saying that Dunbar has also been known as Sandy Corbett and Jennifer Craig, asked Tevrizian to order the government to turn over Dunbar’s “customer or client list” as well as the names of all prostitutes, “whether male or female,” she ever employed.

In a reference to both Dunbar and Mayberry, the attorney also requested information on “other political figures, including lobbyists, both elected or appointed in local, state or national office,” who were provided sexual favors at houses of prostitution operated by either woman.

Tevrizian said Friday that he was “prepared” not to grant the sweeping requests for additional information about the two women and other government evidence in the case, but delayed a final ruling until Oct. 20 after Heller announced he was withdrawing as the lead defense attorney in the case and was calling in a new lawyer to help represent Young.

Responds to Request

Chief Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard E. Drooyan, prosecuting the Young case, had responded to Heller’s request by saying the “government does not have records reflecting the activities of Sandy Dunbar” and indicating that Mayberry’s past activities were regarded by the government as being irrelevant.

Heller, who briefly represented Moriarty before the former Orange County businessman was convicted on corruption charges earlier this year, had contended until Friday that he could also represent Young despite an apparent conflict of interest created by the fact that Moriarty is now a cooperating government witness who will be testifying in the case.

He announced Friday, however, that he had asked San Francisco lawyer George Walker to join the defense team as lead defense counsel because he (Heller) felt that his past lawyer-client privileged relationship with Moriarty would limit his ability to even deliver opening and closing arguments in Young’s defense.

As Drooyan strongly objected to Heller having any further role in Young’s defense, Tevrizian openly urged Heller to withdraw, but the Sacramento lawyer said Young still wants to retain him as a lawyer, adding that he thinks he can play a minor role in the defense without causing any potential legal problems.

Quit Assembly Post

Because of the addition of a new lawyer to the defense team, Tevrizian tentatively delayed the scheduled start of Young’s pending trial until Jan. 6. It was scheduled to begin Nov. 4.

Young, who quit the Assembly in 1984 to become a Sacramento lobbyist, was charged in August with 28 counts of mail fraud for allegedly filing false financial disclosure statements in connection with payments he received from Moriarty and a Los Angeles cable television firm, Falcon Communications.

While he is not charged with trading his political influence for the services of prostitutes, he has admitted through Heller that his involvement with one prostitute and the issue of Moriarty’s general use of prostitutes has surfaced more dramatically in Young’s pending trial than in previous cases linked to Moriarty.

Heller, announcing his intention to directly confront the issue, called a news conference last month to admit that Young had unknowingly been involved at one time with a prostitute provided by one of Moriarty’s aides. “My client thought he was going to a big party,” Heller said. “But it turns out that the women there were paid to be there. We are not talking about the garden variety hooker that one sees in the alleyways of Sacramento or Los Angeles or on the street corners. These were, for the most part, college girls working their way through school.”

Started in 1970s

Moriarty’s use of prostitutes in business and lobbying dealings with bankers and politicians was reported by The Times in January, 1985. According to former aides, the practice started in the 1970s with businessmen and was expanded to politicians because it was deemed to be a successful lure.

When the Moriarty investigation began in 1983, Dunbar was described by former Moriarty aides as being Moriarty’s main madam.

Dunbar operated her business from a penthouse in a medium-sized apartment building on N. LaPeer Street in Beverly Hills.