Charges Filed on Bradley Friend Over Allegedly Failing to Provide Records

City Atty. James K. Hahn filed criminal charges Thursday against Juanita St. John, a friend and business partner of Mayor Tom Bradley, who allegedly failed to heed a subpoena and deliver records to show how more than $180,000 in city funds under her control were spent.

Hahn’s action came after he was prodded by the city official who issued the subpoena.

St. John is the executive director of the Task Force for Africa/Los Angeles relations, a group created to promote trade with Africa. The $180,000 was part of more than $400,000 the city has supplied the organization since 1985.

Personal Records

If convicted of the misdemeanor counts, St. John, 57, faces a maximum six-month jail term and a $1,000 fine. She is scheduled for arraignment Aug. 17 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

However, her attorney, Richard Hirsch, has challenged the legality of the subpoena, saying it violates her rights by, among other things, seeking personal as well as task force records. A hearing on his motion to kill the subpoena is scheduled in Municipal Court on Aug. 23.

“We’re not going to let our client get caught up in this political feeding frenzy that’s going on and have her rights violated,” Hirsch said, referring to the hearings and investigations under way throughout City Hall into Bradley and the city treasurer’s office.

“It’s like everybody in City Hall is trying to show that they’re tougher than the next guy,” Hirsch said.

But City Controller Rick Tuttle, whose office issued the subpoena, said: “People who receive taxpayers’ money have to account for how it is spent. If they refuse to account for it, even in the face of a subpoena, they have to face the consequences, including criminal prosecution.”

On July 21, Tuttle asked Hahn to file criminal charges against St. John when she failed to turn over the records as required by the subpoena. Tuttle said Hahn’s staff agreed to press the charges but that Hahn later countermanded that promise.

Instead, Hahn said he wanted to determine why St. John had not supplied the records and if “compliance with this subpoena is forthcoming, since the ultimate goal of the subpoena is to obtain the records. . . .”

Tuttle said he had already tried for weeks to obtain the documents voluntarily and saw no reason to delay any longer.

Hahn ultimately agreed.

“Attorneys from my special operations branch determined after meeting yesterday withattorneys representing Ms. St. John that compliance with the subpoena would not be immediately forthcoming,” Hahn said Thursday.

Missed Deadline

When St. John missed last week’s subpoena deadline, Hirsch said she needed more time to comply. St. John has been preoccupied in recent weeks with her ill husband and her daughter’s wedding, Hirsch said.

St. John and Bradley have been business associates as well as friends. They are partners in a Riverside County real estate investment.

St. John could not be reached for comment.