Court Aide’s Support Grows but New Allegations Made

As support mounted Thursday for the Glendale Municipal Court commissioner who used the epithet “nigger” in court, the district attorney’s office broadened its attack on him, accusing him of insulting foreign defendants in court by making fun of their accents.

The new charge was made after Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn softened his earlier criticism of Daniel F. Calabro, saying he no longer believes that the judicial officer is a racist or should be ousted. The supervisor invited him to explain his use of the derogatory term today at an interracial prayer breakfast.

“He told me he was taken out of complete context of what he was trying to say, and I accept that,” said Hahn, who Wednesday had urged that Calabro be dismissed or reprimanded. “. . . I’m impressed with his humility, he’s genuinely sorry that he did utter this word.”

Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, who Tuesday effectively barred Calabro from hearing criminal cases, declined to respond directly to Hahn’s reevaluation. But spokesman Al Albergate said: “There’s no question in our minds what (Calabro) meant. The commissioner changes his interpretation to suit the situation, and we’re just not buying into it.”

Calabro made his comment during a June 15 hearing involving a white defendant who had attacked a black man after saying, “Your kind is not welcome here, nigger.”

“Another nigger case?” Calabro said, according to a transcript. “Another one where this nigger business came up? We’re not past that yet? I thought we were all past that.”

Calabro and his defenders have said he was voicing dismay over the case’s similarity to another case he had heard only a few days before.

In disclosing additional allegations about Calabro, Albergate said he was bringing them up because “the commissioner is making an issue of his alleged lack of bias.”

Asked by Albergate to relate their experiences in Calabro’s courtroom, four deputy district attorneys accused him of mimicking the accents of immigrants who appear before him. One prosecutor, Eric Lavine, said he tends to “effectuate a strong accent, sort of a Charley Chan kind of thing,” when dealing with Asian defendants.

“ ‘What dialect do you speak? Do you speak Mandarin? Do you speak Cantonese? Do you speak Szechuan?’ ” Lavine said Calabro asked one non-English-speaking defendant, adding, “ ‘Do you speak hot and spicy?’

“I thought it was just outrageous,” Lavine said.

He added, however, that he was not accusing Calabro of discriminating against minority defendants in sentencing.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Stone said he was “very uncomfortable” with the “mock tone” the commissioner sometimes used.

“I felt he was exhibiting an insensitivity to people who were in situations (where) they couldn’t defend themselves,” Stone said.

Notified of the latest allegations, Calabro said, “Oh, my God. I’m getting riled. . . . I’ve had enough.”

As to the “hot and spicy” remark, he said: “If I said that, and I probably did, it was not to belittle anybody. I am not prejudiced against Asians.”

Backing up Calabro, Deputy Public Defender Carole Telfer, said he merely tries to pronounce foreign names correctly in order to “identify with people on a more personal level.”

While noting that this practice could seem “a little patronizing,” Telfer said, “If I thought he were biased against minorities, I’d be the first to tell him so.”

Calabro also drew support Thursday from the Glendale Bar Assn., which is drafting a statement in his behalf.

“This is just the worst rap I’ve ever seen on a judicial officer,” said Richard A. Hutton, Bar Assn. trustee. “This is just outrageous.”

Additional support for Calabro was expressed in a five-paragraph letter being circulated by court employees describing him as a “respectful, caring and very hard working individual” who has “not an ounce of prejudice in his body.”

“We ask ourselves the true reasons behind the ludicrous accusations brought up against Commissioner Calabro,” the letter said.

In announcing his prayer breakfast, Hahn, whose district has a large black population, stopped short of criticizing Reiner. The district attorney announced Tuesday that his office would no longer permit Calabro to hear cases. Both sides must grant permission before a commissioner can sit as a judge.

“I just want to put some water on the flame of bigotry and hate and put it out,” Hahn said.

Among those scheduled to participate in the prayer breakfast on Hahn’s office balcony are Raymond Johnson, president of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. Johnson, who has called for Calabro’s immediate removal, said his organization is not backing down and still wants “an investigation or an explanation from the commissioner.”

In addition to Calabro and Johnson, Hahn said the breakfast guest list will include John Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League; several religious leaders, including four from the black community; three judges, and the chairman and director of the county Human Relations Commission.