D.A. Told He Can’t Prosecute City of Whittier

A state appellate court has ruled that a conflict of interest made it improper for the Los Angeles County district attorney to prosecute the city of Whittier and four of its employees for illegally dumping hazardous wastes.

The conflict of interest stems from Whittier’s practice of hiring the district attorney to prosecute criminal misdemeanors on the city’s behalf. The practice, in effect, makes Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner and his staff employees of the city, said the opinion from the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles.

But more important, Judge Mildred L. Lillie wrote, “the reality of or potential for an abuse of one of the district attorney’s functions renders it unlikely the defendants would receive evenhanded treatment or a fair trial. . . . The proper administration of criminal justice, as well as its appearance, can only be furthered by the recusal of the entire office of the Los Angeles County district attorney.”

John Lynch, chief deputy district attorney in the environmental crimes division, said his office will appeal the decision. He said the decision could be interpreted as a sharp limit on the district attorney’s authority to pursue cases in any of about 70 municipalities that hire the office to prosecute misdemeanors.

First in California

“It may impact other areas such as if a city councilman committed a theft,” Lynch said. “Does that mean the D.A.’s office can’t prosecute that case?”

The Whittier case is believed to be the first in California in which a district attorney has filed charges against a city, lawyers for Whittier and the district attorney’s office said.

The appellate court opinion cited the close relationship between the Whittier Police Department and the district attorney’s office to demonstrate conflict of interest. But Lynch said the district attorney’s environmental crimes division has never had any contact with the city.

“The test (for conflict of interest) is the likelihood that the defendant can receive a fair trial,” he said. “We think that when the facts are fully explained, it will be found that there is no conflict.”

The city of Whittier asked that the district attorney be removed from the case in 1986 and had its request granted by a Whittier Municipal Court judge. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge overturned that decision in early 1987, and the matter was appealed to the state court.

Film on Hazardous Waste

Whittier pleaded no contest last year to a misdemeanor count of unlawfully disposing of hazardous wastes. The city was fined $5,000 and ordered to produce a film about the proper disposal of hazardous wastes. Charges were dropped against three other employees in exchange for the city’s plea.

The city and its employes had been accused of dumping paint wastes and thinners into a dirt pit in a maintenance yard, allowing potentially dangerous levels of heavy metals and solvents to seep into the soil. A cleanup of the yard is under way.

The appellate court opinion was released Tuesday, one day before Ralph Williams, Whittier’s retired street and maintenance superintendent, was scheduled to go to trial on a misdemeanor count of unlawfully disposing of paint wastes and thinners in a city yard.