Apartment Owner Found Guilty of 4 Added Counts

A Los Angeles Municipal Court jury Wednesday convicted a Sherman Oaks man on four new counts of misdemeanor health and safety violations for keeping a Los Angeles property in slum-like conditions.

Robert W. Morrison, 59, had previously been convicted on five similar counts by another Municipal Court jury, which deadlocked on several other counts. That led to the further charges on which Morrison was convicted Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, City Atty. James K. Hahn’s office filed a 50-count criminal complaint against the latest owners of a residential hotel in Los Angeles where slum-like conditions resulted in the convictions of two previous landlords, including fugitive Vijaynard Sharma.

Named in the new complaint are Ty Properties Corp. of Encino, the corporate owner of the 160-room Cameo Hotel at 504 S. Bonnie Brae St., and company President Mordehai Ben-Horin, 59, of Encino.

‘A Long History’

“This hotel has had a long history as a slum property,” Hahn said in a statement. “I intend to keep prosecuting until somebody gets the message and cleans this building up.”

The complaint alleges 50 violations of health, fire and building and safety codes, including trash and debris in the corridors, leaky roof, missing and broken windows, inadequate heating, missing fire hoses, an inoperative elevator and a blocked fire escape, according to Deputy City Atty. Lawrence P. V. Punter.

The defendants are scheduled for arraignment on Dec. 29 in Municipal Court.

The Cameo Hotel was one of five buildings where slum conditions led to Sharma’s conviction on 112 criminal counts in November of 1987 at the end of what Hahn said was the longest slumlord trial in city history--30 days.

Sharma was sentenced to 20 months in jail and to pay fines and penalties totaling $153,000. But he was freed on bail after filing an appeal. He became a fugitive shortly after selling some of his properties, including the Cameo Hotel, to Ty Properties.

Earlier Owner Convicted

The hotel’s owner before Sharma was Joe Fitzpatrick, of Simi Valley, who was convicted on similar charges and was ordered to pay nearly $10,000 in fines, penalties and restitution.

In Wednesday’s case, Morrison was convicted after a four-day trial, in which he represented himself, on four counts of housing code violations stemming from a six-unit apartment building in the 8400 block of Main Street.

Previously, Morrison received three jail sentences for maintaining substandard conditions at various residential properties he owns. He is free on $25,000 bail pending sentencing Nov. 30, according to Deputy City Atty. Vivienne Swanigan.