Suspension Was Illegal, Says His Lawyer : D.A. Accused of Theft Goes Back on the Payroll

A San Diego County prosecutor suspended last week after being charged with petty theft is back on the payroll, at least temporarily.

Wayne Mayer, facing his second misdemeanor charge in the last five years, cannot be suspended without pay until he has had a chance to appeal the administrative action, the district attorney’s office acknowledged Monday.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian Michaels had told Mayer he was suspended Friday, the same day that the state attorney general’s office filed the theft charge against the veteran prosecutor.

But Mayer’s defense attorney, Peter Hughes, pointed out Monday that civil service rules prohibit the immediate suspension of county employees. And by Monday afternoon, the district attorney’s office concurred.

According to Linda Miller, a spokesman for the office, Mayer will be formally notified later this week that Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller Jr. intends to suspend him. He then will have about a week to appeal. If he does, a hearing officer selected by the district attorney will review the proposed suspension and make a final determination of Mayer’s status pending the resolution of the criminal charge.

“It is a tad confusing,” Linda Miller said.

Hughes said the rush to take administrative action against Mayer was unseemly.

Not Convicted Yet

“Charging and convicting are two different things,” he said. “There’s a presumption of innocence no matter who you are. It doesn’t change if you happen to be a prosecutor.”

Mayer, one of the prosecutors in the recently concluded retrial of Sagon Penn, is charged with stealing a power saw and a drill June 14 from the back of a truck parked at De Anza Cove. The misdemeanor count carries a maximum penalty of six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine.

According to Municipal Court records, Mayer first was charged with petty theft 4 1/2 years ago, when he was accused of shoplifting a fishing pole from a Serra Mesa drugstore. In that instance, he pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of trespassing and was placed on three years’ probation.

Mayer identified himself in the earlier case as a college teacher and gave his business address as National University’s campus in Mission Valley. He never told officials at the district attorney’s office about the misdemeanor prosecution.