Reiner Says Judge ‘Misunderstood’ Action in Call on McMartin Case

Defending his judgment in the latest flap concerning the McMartin Pre-School molestation case, Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner declared Tuesday that the trial judge “misunderstood” his action in having a subordinate contact the jurist while he was on an out-of-town trip last week.

Reiner told reporters Tuesday that he assigned an investigator to phone Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg in New York to “find out if the judge would be available for a conference call involving all the parties in the case.

“Unfortunately, that was misunderstood,” he said.

Reiner, a candidate for state attorney general, said the call stemmed from his concerns about out-of-court statements made last week by attorney Danny Davis, who represents defendant Ray Buckey, 31, who is being retried on eight molestation charges.

However, Reiner refused to answer several other questions concerning the contact--including why, after Weisberg was contacted, no further attempt was made to set up a conference call.

On Monday, a visibly angry Weisberg announced in court that Reiner had attempted to talk privately with him about the McMartin case last week after Davis revealed to reporters details about pretrial negotiations with prosecutors concerning a possible plea bargain for Buckey.

Weisberg said district attorney’s investigator Ed Alecks reached him in New York and “stated that Ira Reiner wanted to talk with me the next morning, and wanted to know if I would make myself available to receive a call.

“I personally cannot conceive of any reason why Mr. Reiner attempted to communicate with me ex parte (outside the presence of lawyers for the opposing side),” the judge said.

Weisberg’s statements were quickly seized upon by the campaign of Reiner’s Democratic primary foe, San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith.

“Is this guy trustworthy?” asked Smith’s campaign manager Marc Dann on Tuesday. “Did he abuse this case? What was he calling the judge about? To participate in some sort of spin control about this plea bargain deal that he apparently hasn’t been truthful about from the beginning?”

Reiner, who had been unavailable for comment on the McMartin matter Monday, was questioned by reporters Tuesday following a campaign appearance at the Santa Monica Pier. At the event, Reiner was endorsed by the Sierra Club of California and the California League of Conservation Voters for his strong record in prosecuting toxic polluters.

Vowing to “enforce California’s environmental laws unlike they have ever been enforced anywhere,” Reiner said that, as attorney general, he would sue the federal government if it approves new oil drilling plans off the coast.