Orange : Hearing for 4 Indicted School Trustees Delayed
The first court hearing for four Orange Unified School District board members indicted for “willful misconduct” in failing to stop alleged bid rigging by a former employee was postponed Friday until Aug. 21.
Board member Ruth C. Evans was on a long-planned trip to the Soviet Union, her attorney, Clayton H. Parker, said Friday, and the new date was mutually agreed upon by him and Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin G. Engquist.
On June 30, Evans and three other board members, Robert James Elliott, Joe C. Cherry and Eleanore C. Pleines, were indicted by the Orange County Grand Jury under a rarely used state law that allows a judge to remove elected officials for misconduct.
The four school trustees were accused of failing to follow bid and construction procedures required by state laws, enabling a former maintenance supervisor to award business contracts in exchange for gifts or services in 1981-84.
The four members did not personally benefit from or have any part in the alleged crimes, Engquist said, but they performed their duties so poorly that the grand jury believed that the alleged inattention was “willful misconduct in office.”
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.
