Prosecutor Fired for Drug Use Drops Fight to Regain Job

A deputy district attorney who was fired last March for using cocaine while off duty has abandoned his fight to win reinstatement.

Ralph Ayala, an eight-year prosecutor, dropped his county Civil Service Commission case on Tuesday “for both personal and career reasons” and to avoid “protracted litigation,” his attorney said.

In seeking to get his job back, Ayala, 35, had argued that he was the victim of “disparate treatment,” citing the more lenient treatment accorded Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey C. Jonas after he was caught shoplifting last year at a Glendale department store.

Suspended Without Pay

Jonas was suspended without pay for one month but was allowed to retain his head deputy’s position in which he supervises 30 trial lawyers. Jonas was tried for misdemeanor petty theft in Glendale Municipal Court, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

Testifying in his defense, Jonas blamed the incident on intense professional and personal stress.

Also citing the Jonas case is another former deputy district attorney, Walter Tucker Jr., who was fired last December after he admitted he lied in court about the date on which a photograph was taken.

Tucker, 30, a two-year prosecutor, is fighting his dismissal before the Civil Service Commission on grounds that no damage was done to the case and “the penalty is too harsh,” according to his attorney, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Lance Ito, who is representing the district attorney’s office before the commission, said Tucker’s offense was a serious violation of the rules of professional conduct and could result in misdemeanor criminal charges.

‘Change of Thinking’

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert Garcetti said Jonas might have been treated differently had the shoplifting occurred today. The recent disciplinary cases have prompted a “change of thinking,” he said.

“If the same factual situation of the Jonas case were presented today . . . we could perhaps respond more harshly,” Garcetti said.

Ayala was fired after district attorney’s investigators, who had been tipped off by informants, caught him using cocaine at a Venice residence. He was charged with two misdemeanor drug counts by the city attorney’s office.

His lawyer, Michelle Rodenborn, said Ayala is expected to complete a drug diversion program Aug. 5. At that point, the drug arrest will be eliminated from his record, she said.