Lawmaker Wright Allegedly Tried to Have Own Ticket Voided

Assemblywoman Cathie Wright, who is under investigation for allegedly seeking to improperly influence the outcome of many of her daughter’s 27 traffic tickets, tried to have police quash one of her own parking tickets issued in 1983, according to information gathered by law enforcement officials.

Wright (R-Simi Valley) left the Dec. 6, 1983, citation with a watch commander at Simi Valley Police Department headquarters, allegedly suggesting that the officer would know what to do with it. Police Chief Paul Miller returned the ticket to her, with a letter advising Wright that once tickets have been issued, they must be paid or challenged in court.

Wright, a former Simi Valley mayor, apparently paid the fine, which was $10 to $12, although city parking violation records are no longer available for 1983.

Miller’s 1983 letter is one of the documents that Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury’s special investigations unit has obtained as part of its inquiry focusing on Wright’s contacts with Ventura County Municipal Court judges, the state Department of Motor Vehicles and the Simi Valley police on behalf of Victoria Catherine Wright, 24.

Cathie Wright said through a spokeswoman Tuesday that she will not comment further on the matter until Bradbury completes his probe, which is expected to be next month. She has suggested that the investigation by Bradbury, a fellow Republican, is politically motivated.

Bradbury has refused to disclose details of the inquiry, which began earlier this month and has attracted widespread attention. Miller said Tuesday that he could not discuss any correspondence or records that may be under review by the district attorney.

Wright has previously maintained that her actions were appropriate as a mother and lawmaker representing a constituent. She has denied that she sought to improperly influence judges, state officials or law enforcement agencies.

The lawmaker’s reported response to the 1983 ticket, however, suggests that she sought favored treatment for herself from police.

It appears that Wright’s alleged action did not violate any laws. It is not illegal to ask police to dismiss a ticket unless the request is accompanied by a bribe or an effort to intimidate, legal authorities say.

At the time, it was not against the law for a police officer to act on such requests. But in 1987, following disclosure of questionable ticket dismissals by the San Diego Police Department, the Legislature made it illegal for a police officer to void a parking ticket without going through the municipal agency that processes such citations.

Victoria Wright has received 27 traffic tickets, including 24 for speeding, and has had at least six accidents since 1981, public records show. Her license was revoked for a year by the DMV on Thursday.

Last April, Judge Herbert Curtis III in Ventura County Municipal Court placed Victoria Wright on probation and gave her a 30-day suspended sentence after convicting her of two speeding violations and driving without a license. He also told her that the next traffic conviction would result in jail. She received five subsequent tickets for speeding and other moving violations. In addition, she failed to report any of the offenses to the court, as required under terms of her probation.

Arraignment on the charges was postponed Tuesday until March 29.

Curtis has told Bradbury’s investigators that when the Wright case was pending last year, he received a phone call from Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), who was acting at Cathie Wright’s behest, according to sources familiar with the inquiry. Brown told Curtis, a Democrat, that Victoria Wright “was a good person trying to get her life in order and deserved a break in the case,” one official said.