Judge Overrode Advice on Martinez : Councilman Was Allowed to Keep Attorney Despite Raise

A Superior Court judge overrode the recommendation of county finance officials when he allowed San Diego City Councilman Uvaldo Martinez to retain his court-appointed lawyer after the council granted itself a $5,000-a-year raise, according to court records released Thursday.

Judge Richard D. Huffman said the county’s advice was based on a miscalculation of Martinez’s finances. The officials who made the recommendation acknowledged that judges ignore their advice more often than not.

Huffman released the financial records, which he had reviewed during a closed-door hearing in August, at the request of lawyers for the Copley Press. He ruled that there was no reason for the records to remain secret now that Martinez has pleaded guilty to two felony charges of misusing a city credit card.

The documents show that John Gidley, deputy director of the county Department of Revenue and Recovery, urged Huffman in August to require Martinez to pay for his defense on the credit card charges after the City Council raised its members’ annual pay from $35,000 to $40,000. A financial analysis submitted by Gidley indicated that Martinez’s monthly income exceeded his expenses by about $230.

Yet Huffman reluctantly allowed Martinez to continue to be defended at public expense by lawyer Raymond J. Coughlan Jr., who had represented him under a court appointment since late January, when Martinez said he was no longer able to afford a private lawyer.

After the August hearing, Huffman explained that he had a duty to see to it that the councilman received proper representation. He relied on the same reason Thursday to explain why he ignored Gidley’s recommendation.

Huffman said the county’s financial analysis of Martinez failed to include a $446 monthly mortgage payment--a debt that gave the councilman more costs than income each month.

He noted, too, that Coughlan had estimated during the closed-door August hearing that a private lawyer would charge more than $50,000 to defend Martinez on the felony charges of misappropriating and falsely accounting for public funds.

Under the circumstances, Huffman said, he concluded that Martinez did not have the ability to retain a private lawyer, the council pay increase notwithstanding.

“I found that he didn’t have the ability (at the time) to muster the funds for his defense, but he may well have the ability to repay the county for the costs of his attorney,” Huffman said.

In any event, Huffman noted that he had not asked the Department of Revenue and Recovery for its recommendation on whether Martinez was entitled to a court-appointed lawyer.

And Morris Pion, director of the department, acknowledged Thursday that judges ignore the department’s recommendations in two out of three felony cases. “It’s not unusual at all,” Pion said.

Under a plea bargain with prosecutors, Martinez is obligated to resign from the council before his sentencing next week. Afterward, he could agree to repay the county for his defense--which cost $19,142.79 through Sept. 30--or the county could seek a court order requiring him to pay the legal expenses, Pion said.