Quake Damage Causes Delay in Downey Councilman’s Trial
The conflict-of-interest trial of Downey Councilman James S. Santangelo has been postponed for a third time because the Oct. 1 earthquake that shook the Los Angeles area damaged the Norwalk Superior Courthouse where the trial was to be held.
Santangelo’s Oct. 19 trial was rescheduled to Jan. 4, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Herbert Lapin.
Damage from the earthquake forced the closure of the seventh floor of the courthouse and required that a number of cases be rescheduled.
Originally, Santangelo was to be tried May 4 on a misdemeanor charge that he had a conflict of interest in 1984 when he voted to expand the city’s redevelopment district into an area in which he owned land. But the trial was postponed to Aug. 3 and again to Oct. 19, to allow the defense more time to prepare.
The trial was to be held in Norwalk instead of at the Downey Municipal Courthouse because of space considerations. Lapin said it is uncertain where the trial will be held.
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